Travels of an 
Unofficial Attache 




Class ^ Jiy 

Book___J\^b:i__ 

Copyright IS^!' 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE TRAVELS 



OIF 



AN UNOFFICIAL ATTACHE 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/travelsofunofficOOwibo 




General Jesse M. Lee and Mr. Wiborg under duramen tree. 
Prang Prang, Mindanao 



THE TRAVELS 

OF 

AN UNOFFICIAL ATTACHE 

DESCRIBED IN SIMPLE NARRATIVE 
FOR HIS FRIENDS 

BY 
FRANK WIBORG 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 
1904 



JUN 16 1904 

Oopyrlffht Enii^r 

CLASS ^ XXo. No. 

COPY B 



Copyright, 1904 
By Frank Wiborg 



THE UNIYEBSITT PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 



liC Control Niomber 




tinp96 025798 



TO 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL NELSON A. MILES AND MRS. MILES 

LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARION P. MAUS AND MRS. MAUS 

MR. HENRY CLARK ROUSE, MR. CHARLES SHERMAN 

HOYT, AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL 

HENRY H. WHITNEY 

MY COMPANIONS OF THE JOURNEY 

I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK 

ACKNOWLEDGING TO THEM MY GRATEFUL APPRECIATION 
OF THE MANY COURTESIES SHOWN ME 



Foreword 



LATE in the summer of 1902, Lieutenant- 
M General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A._, was 
ordered by the President to proceed to 
the Philippines on a trip of inspection of the 
military department of the Archipelago. Later 
he was ordered to Japan and Pekin, China, on 
a similar mission. From Pekin the General 
was authorized to return to military head- 
quarters at Washington by any route he might 
select, and he decided, though in mid-winter, 
to go from Pekin via the Trans-Siberian Rail- 
road to St. Petersburg, thence, via England, to 
New York. 

General Miles, an old personal friend with 
whom I made several previous tours, was so 
kind as to invite me to become one of his party. 
To the opportunity thus afforded I owe the rec- 
ollection of a series of experiences such as few 

are permitted to enjoy. A world-tour is a rare 

vii 



Foreword 



treat even to tlie most fortunate. To circum- 
navigate the globe as one of tlie party of 
the official representative of the United States, 
being received everywhere with the pomp and 
ceremony due to the commanding officer of 
the military forces of a great nation, is a privi- 
lege beyond compare. 

The author makes no claim to recognition as 
a writer of books, nor is this little volume 
issued with any pretense of literary skill. All 
that has been attempted within the limits of 
these pages has been to preserve a souvenir of 
this fascinating journey, and to share with my 
friends such measure of enjo3nnent as the nar- 
ration of some of the most unique and interest- 
ing of my experiences can furnish. 

My purpose herein is not to give such details 

as a tourists' guide-book could present in better 

form, but to tell the simple story of our whirl 

around the world, preserviag what I can of local 

color and presenting the kaleidoscopic views 

which my memory retains. No attempt has 

been made to preserve the proper proportions 

of historic values, but rather to present, in 

viii 



Foreword 



familiar phrase, the impressions which have 
remained most clearly in my own mind. 

Wherever comments or reflections, economic, 
social, or political, are offered, they are to be 
taken, like the rest of the book, personally, i. e., 
they are my own impressions and may not 
(in some instances they do not) coincide with 
the judgment of my companions. 

F. B. W. 



IX 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Honolulu 9 

Honolulu to Guam 19 

Guam 23 

Manila 31 

A Day in the Streets of Manila 55 

Along the Dagupan RAiLvt^AY 62 

Cruise among the Southern Islands 67 

Sultan of Sulu no longer a Subject of Uncle 

Sam 90 

Hong-Kong 132 

Hong-Kong to Canton 138 

Japan 152 

Port Arthur l65 

Ching Wang Tao to Pekin 172 

Pekin 179 

An Audience with their Majesties, the Dowager 

Empress and the Emperor of China . . . . 181 

From Pekin to New Chwang 215 

Crossing the Lian-ho River 224 

A Tragedy 243 

St. Petersburg 250 

Berlin 256 

London 26l 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

General Jesse M. Lee and Mr. Wiborg under duramen 

tree, Prang Prang, Mindanao Frontispiece 

Map of Route Facing page 8 

Market Place, Siassi) 

y „ „ 84 

Moro Boys, Siassi ) 

General Miles at Camp Vickers „ « 100 

Old Spanish Gate, Subig Bay, Luzon . . . „ « 128 

Bumboats, Nagasaki „ „ 152 

Arch in front of Main Gate, Pekin . . . . „ ,,180 
Russian Soldier. Taken at a way-station in 

Manchuria „ „ 2l6 

Ox-cart. Taken at a way-station in Man- 
churia „ „ 232 

Place Rouge, Moscow „ „ 248 



An Unofficial Attache 



T^ 



HE generous and sunny nature of the 
■ people of San Francisco was most de- 

"*" lightfully evidenced on the day of our 
departure on the United States army transport 
"Thomas/' October 1, 1902. Many personal 
friends of General and Mrs. Miles came aboard to 
wish us hon voyage. Officers from the army 
and navy posts in the vicinity of San Fran- 
cisco were present with the ladies of their 
families, and a merry throng in holiday attire 
crowded the wharf and shore. Lying out in 
the harbor, almost in a direct line with the 
"Thomas/' was the United States first-class 
cruiser " Oregon/' in " full dress/' every man 
on the ship in position, in order to give the 
commanding general of the army an appropri- 
ate farewell salute. 

As our transport left her moorings, the shore 
batteries thundered forth a salute of fifteen 
guns, which was repeated by the " Oregon " ; a 
regimental band on the shore struck up " The 
Girl I left behind me," and the great throng 
1 1 



An Unofficial Attache 



of people on the wharf shouted and cheered 
and waved farewells. 

And then we sailed out through the Golden 
Gate on the boundless peace of the Pacific. 
Though we were destined to be cheered and 
saluted at almost every stopping-place on our 
entire trip, there was no salutation more cor- 
dial and no godspeed more hearty than that 
which followed us as we left the harbor of 
San Francisco. 

There is a subtle and mysterious fascination 
in the wide solitude of the Pacific. The abso- 
lute serenity of this ocean seems to be but 
another manifestation of its vastness. And 
as its days and nights succeed each other, 
lengthening out into weeks, and all alike, — 
illimitable water, bounded and arched by the 
immeasurable vault of the sky, water and sky 
alike placid, unruffied, and tropically hot, — the 
inland-bred traveller finds himself dazed by this 
monotonous round. "When we had steamed for 
twenty-nine days without sighting a ship or 
other evidence of human life, we came to under- 
stand the seaman's dread of fire or accident on 
the Pacific. On the Atlantic there is always a 
strong probability that refugees in the small 
boats will be picked up by some passing ship. 



An Unofficial Attache 



To be adrift on ttie Pacific usually means to 
face the horrors of slow death by starvation 
and thirst. 

One morning, a few days after we had left 
the Golden Gate, the wonted silence of the ship 
was broken by the brazen clang of a bell on the 
starboard side of the deck. This was repeated 
from other bells fore and aft, in every depart- 
ment of the vessel, from the upper decks to the 
hold. Simultaneously with the ringing of the 
bells we heard the quick, short words of com- 
mand from the boat's officers, and a hurrying 
of the crew to positions on duty. All hands — 
engineers, gunners, mechanics, seamen, and 
waiters, stewards — responded to the alarm of 
the fire bell, and in the winking of an eye the 
lines of hose were run out, pumps were set in 
place, and the fire-drill was on. These fire- 
drills were repeated several times during our 
voyage and were interesting displays of the skill 
and discipline maintained aboard an army trans- 
port. Taking all things into consideration, I 
am quite contented that the element of fire was 
omitted from the drill, though it would doubt- 
less have added considerably to the realism of 
the scene. 

Another morning the cry " man overboard " 



An Unofficial Attache 



was heard on the port side. In incredibly short 
time the signals were passed throughout the 
vessel. Engines were reversed and the ship 
came to a dead stop, then turned back on her 
track. Meantime, the life-saving crew had ap- 
peared as if by magic. The boats were lowered 
and manned and shot away from the vessel's 
side toward an object scarcely visible above the 
surface of the water. Presto ! The drenched 
form was pulled aboard; the boats were returned 
to the side of the ship, and drawn up into their 
places. The dummy is stowed away until the 
next time a drowning is deemed necessary ; the 
life-saving crew disappear into their quarters 
below ; the vessel is righted, and we speed on 
toward our goal. The whole episode, from the 
time of the first alarm until all is righted and 
the decks are again in order, has occupied but 
twenty minutes. 

Oftentimes of mornings we lounged on deck 
and enjoyed the exhibition of the skill of our 
gunners afc target practice. A soap-box was 
cast overboard and the small rapid-fire guns of 
the ship were aimed and fired at the floating 
target as it bobbed up and down on the rufiied 
path in our wake. Every turn of the screw 
took us further from the mark, and every charge 

4j 



An Unofficial Attache 



was fired from a different elevation to that of the 
preceding shot. This was continued as long as 
the target remained visible on the surface of the 
ocean. The marksmanship of these gunners is 
marvellous, and furnished a good example of 
what is meant by the "• skill of the man behind 
the gun." 

The commander of the "Thomas" favored 
our party almost daily with a call at seven 
bells, which means, in landlubber's parlance, 
half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon. At 
these meetings in the commander's quarters on 
the upper deck we had opportunity to go over 
the running of the previous day, the weather 
conditions, and the small-talk of the ship. 
These very pleasant social gatherings were en- 
joyed by the ladies as well as by the men of 
our party, and by other passengers on the boat. 
On these occasions some light refreshments were 
offered. 

The captain told us an amusing story of a 
colored trooper, who had never before seen the 
ocean, aboard a transport bound for the Philip- 
pines. When the vessel, on a previous trip, had 
been some two weeks from port without sight- 
ing a single sail, and nothing but water, water, 
everywhere, his chagrin could no longer be 



An Unofficial Attache 



restrained. Approacliing the captain, he came 
to attention and then said, " Captain, I have 
made a cackillation and de goggerfies is all 
wrong. When I was a little boy at school 
dey teached me dat the wuld am two-firds 
water and one-fird land. Dat am de mis- 
take. De WLild am nine-tenths water and one- 
tenth land and dem goggerfy books had orter 
be erected. I'se seen it myself since leaving 
Frisco." 

The colored trooper may have been amiss in 
his " calculations,'* but our party agreed after 
so many days on the Pacific that the " gogger- 
fies" have understated the relative amount of 
water in the composition of this planet. 

Another trooper on the same trip is reported 
to have approached an officer one morning 
about ten days out from port. " Lieutenant," 
said he, " I 'se in bad luck. When I left Frisco, 
a f ren gave me a bottle of whiskey to take wid 
me, an' I promised dat I would only take a 
drink outen it wheneber we seed anuder ship. 
It 's going on two weeks now, sah, and dis nigger 
am gettin' powerful thirsty." Fortunately for 
our party, we did not number our refreshments 
by the passing vessels. 

The following facsimile of a menu card is 
6 



An Unofficial Attache 



given merely as a sample of the excellent dinner 
service we enjoyed on board the " Thomas/* 



SUBSISTENCE DEPAETMENT 



u. s. 



(Flag) 



Aemy 
Wednesday October 28, 1902 

Transport " Thomas " 



MENU 

DINNER 

Olives 

Bowp Cream of Cauliflower 

Fisk Boiled Rock Cod Sauce Hollandaise 

Boiled, Smoked Tongue, with Spinach 

Entrees Ox Tail Saute, au Madeira 

Fricassee of Lamb, with Cauliflower 
Macaroni-Italienne 



Boasts Prime Rib of Beef, au Jus 

Sucking Pig, with Apple Sauce 

Vegetables 

Stewed Tomatoes Mashed Pumpkins 
Baked, Mashed, and Plain Boiled Potatoes 

Dessert 

Black Cap Pudding, with Strawberry Sauce 
Pineapple Ice Cream Peach Pie 

Pound Cake Jelly Rolls Macaroons 

Cheese Straws Crackers and Cheese 



Assorted Fruit 



Iced Tea and Coffee 



An Unofficial Attache 



Although we made sleeping and eating the 
principal business of our days and nights aboard 
the " Thomas/' we not infrequently worked up 
a genuine enthusiasm over a game of skittles, 
or horse billiards, on deck. I have since mar- 
velled that a party of grown men, in full posses- 
sion of their mental faculties and passing among 
their fellows as sane and rational beings, could 
become excited over the pathetically trivial 
game of skittles, but I am inclined to suspect 
that '' mumble-the-peg " or " Simon says thumbs 
up " might become a veritable orgy, were the 
Pacific a little broader, skittles being barred. 







^u^ 




a 



ST.PSTEBSBURO 



A S 1 



B 



l'^'^^ 




Ma 





^f 


^ 
--^ 


/ f 


r v 


^ NOR 


NINES JE ,■ / 




^ A M E R 

SAN FBANCISC^^^^ 




HAWAljca^ 


H 


^C?^^ 




e^ 


■#■•■■ 




' 







Loute 



An Unofficial Attache 



HONOLULU 

LATE in the forenoon of October Otb, nine 
days since we had seen onr last glimpse 
of land, we stood in eager expectation, 
well to the fore of the boat, and all eyes straining 
straight ahead to catch the first welcome view of 
the land which we knew must soon greet us. 
"When one has been four weeks at sea, a sight 
of land is about the most welcome thing imag- 
inable. Presently the cry, '' Land ahead ! " was 
raised, and then, almost simultaneously, the 
different members of our party, peering through 
their glasses, discerned a small black spot clearly 
outlined on the horizon. As we sped on, this 
rock seemed verily to be rising up out of the 
sea. We soon saw other peaks lifting their 
rugged heads from the placid ocean into the 
blue dome of the tropical sky. Then the out- 
lines became clearer. We noted thin veils of 
gray smoke floating from the crests of various 
volcanoes which stood like lazy giants leisurely 
smoking their pipes of peace. The absolute 

9 



An Unofficial Attache 



serenity of the scene was beautiful. Presently 
we steamed almost in the shadow of Diamond 
Head, thence into the quiet harbor of Honolulu. 
Truly this is the El Dorado for which the cava- 
liers of old sought so long in vain, — this is the 
land of fruit and flowers and perpetual summer. 
As the " Thomas " came to her slip the entire 
garrison of Honolulu, drawn up on the dock, 
gave General Miles and his party a hearty 
salute. A great crowd of sight-seers cheered 
our arrival, and awaited our landing with eager 
friendliness. Scarce had we left the gang-planks, 
when each and every one of us was surrounded 
by good-natured, laughing crowds who threw 
long garlands of sweet flowers about our necks 
and shoulders, and placed wreaths upon our 
heads. This is known as " the placing of the 
Leis," a native custom and of general obser- 
vance in the Hawaiian Islands. The Leis is 
worn on occasions of public or private rejoicing, 
— birthdays, weddings, and the like, — and this 
sweet ceremonial, one of the simple, daily prac- 
tices in these islands, impressed me as the most 
beautiful, the most absolutely charming and 
innocent custom of rejoicing which I ever saw. 
So general is this observance that it is not un- 
common to see a cab-driver or working-man 

10 



An Unofficial Attache 



going about his daily task with a garland on 
his hat in commemoration of some home 
festival, — the birth of a child or the anniver- 
sary of his marriage or birthday. 

Thus decorated we climbed into waiting 
United States army Doherty wagons, — ca- 
pacious army carryalls so familiar on our 
western plains. In this manner, accompanied 
by a guard of honor made up of a few of the 
officers and ladies of the post, we took our way 
through the heart of the city to the "Royal 
Hawaiian Hotel." 

This fascinating hostelry is a veritable bower 
of tropical plants and flowers. The building 
itself reminds one of a summer resort of the 
most attractive kind in Florida or Southern 
California; but the luxurious freedom of the 
plants, shrubs, and trees about the grounds far 
surpasses anything of the kind in our country. 
The service at the Royal Hawaiian is of the 
best, and the management is strictly up-to- 
date. The splashing fountains fill the inter- 
missions of the orchestral music with a restful 
murmur, charming eye and ear. The sense of 
smell is grateful to each gentle breeze which 
comes laden with the sweet odors of palm and 
orchid, never strong, but always fresh and pure. 

11 



An Unofficial Attache 



It is difficult for the traveller, accustomed to the 
artificiality of hotel life in America and Europe, 
to realize that he is here at a great commercial 
hotel in the business centre of a thriving and 
busy city of some forty thousand population. 

Yet a few steps from the hotel bring us into 
streets, noisy like our own with the clang of 
gongs on trolley cars and with the hurly-burly 
of trade and industry. In most respects, Hono- 
lulu is not unlike the average western American 
city of like number of inhabitants. There is 
about the place a pervasive air of general con- 
tentment and moderate prosperity, though but 
little evidence of great wealth. English is 
spoken on the streets and in the markets, and 
I have noted that the general adoption of the 
English language always means the eventual, 
if not the immediate, civilization of a country. 
The native has been almost entirely assimilated 
into the Americanized population of the islands. 
Passing along the streets of Honolulu one can- 
not fail to notice the pleasing fact that every 
house, no matter how poor or cheap, is gay with 
flowers or shaded with palms. The people of 
these islands are, for the most part, simple 
and generous in disposition, light-hearted, gay, 
sympathetic, and full of the love of the beautiful. 

\% 



An Unofficial Attache 



Americanized tliough they be, they are not yet 
so far commercialized as to have no time for 
those amenities which make life sweet and 
render pleasant the daily intercourse of trade 
and business. 

The mountains about Honolulu are pictur- 
esque to a degree, and many points of interest 
are within a few miles of the city. Among 
these the "^Punchbowl" and the "Pali" are 
the most wonderful of nature's creations. The 
Punchbowl is the crater of an extinct volcano, 
— a deep valley cupped out of the very peak 
of the mountain, when the volcanic fires within 
the rugged monster ceased to vomit forth their 
smoke and lava thousands of years ago. The 
serried sides of the mountains are now dotted 
with tropical vegetation. The crest, a great 
circle like the rim of a huge bowl, is densely 
overgrown with palms and ferns and a rank 
luxury of fauna and flora unknown to lis. 
Within the hollow of the bowl the receding 
lava has left a beautiful valley, over which 
the kindly Pacific summers have spread a rich 
deposit of soil, now almost entirely under culti- 
vation, and dotted here and there with cocoanut 
and date palms. The view from the edge of 
the crater is magnificent. Standing here and 

13 



An Unofficial Attache 



looking down over the peaceful valley and fair 
city below, one realizes that here, in the days 
of which we have no record of man's doings, 
nature was in labor to bring forth new worlds 
for unborn generations of the sons of men to 
dwell upon in peace and content. Upon the 
dead ashes of those primordial fires the suns 
and rains of kindly centuries have spread their 
blessings, until they blossom like one vast garden 
in the fairy-land of our childhood dreams. 

The Pah is a vast cli^, some two thousand 
feet in sheer, precipitous descent, fronting out 
toward the ocean, which roars and foams be- 
neath. The grandeur of the scene from this 
elevation beggars description. This was the 
last battle-ground in the war which was waged 
by King Kamahameha against the seven kings 
who held authority over seven other islands in 
the Hawaiian group. After a brave fight in 
the lowlands about the city of Honolulu, the 
allies were driven along the mountain passes 
into the plateau of the Pali. Here further 
retreat was impossible, and the victorious Kama- 
hameha, forcing his enemies back to the edges 
of the cliff, bade his victims choose their own 
doom, — absolute surrender to his mercy, or 
death by the swords of his soldiers. The defeated 

14 



An Unofficial Attache 



band, brave in battle, were no less brave in 
defeat. Perhaps their experience had taught 
them what measure of mercy they might expect 
from Kamahameha. Submit, they would not, 
and facing about toward the precipice, the little 
army rushed forward to meet death face to 
face, not deigning to give their conqueror the 
satisfaction of driving them to their doom, and 
with one defiant cry of unconquerable valor 
they plunged over the cliff to the rocks, a thou- 
sand feet below. 

Verily, there have been brave men who knew 
how to die at Pali as well as^at Thermopylae ! 

From one of our sight-seeing tours we went 
by trolley to a place on the coast where the 
surf-bathing is said to be the finest in the world. 
Though its water is too warm to be as exhila- 
rating as our northern sea bathing, the surf has 
a roll and swell that are grand. The natives 
paddle queer little canoes far out from the 
shore, and the daring bather perches himself on 
the frail craft and awaits the return start. The 
native boatman watches for his chance, and at 
the nick of time he twists his canoe deftly to 
ride the crest of an extra large wave. The 
novice passenger holds his breath as he is shot 
forward, literally on the crest of the waves. It 

15 



An Unofficial Attache 



is great sport and fine physical exercise. Occa- 
sionally a breaker leaps up onto the sandy 
beach, spilling canoe and passenger "anceremoni- 
ously on the shore or in the shallow water and 
pounding them with a great bulk of foamy 
surf. 

Eeturning to the hotel, we enjoyed a delicious 
dinner, including jpoi^ — a sort of porridge much 
in favor with the natives, — which no American 
or European hotel could surpass in general 
excellence of preparation or service. Native 
musicians played for our entertainment, and 
as we sat about the table over our coffee and 
cigars, native negro minstrels sang for us, 
and native dancers went through the queer 
mazes of old-time Hawaiian dances. 

Later in the evening an informal reception 
was held in honor of General and Mrs. Miles. 
Music and dancing followed. 

On one of the smaller islands, about forty 
miles from Honolulu, is located the Leper 
Settlement, made up of between two and three 
thousand lepers, doomed to pay the awful 
penalty of the sins of their ancestors. Yerily, 
the sins of the parents are "visited upon the 
children even to the third and fourth genera- 
tion." Mark Twain, in his book, "Following 

16 



An Unofficial Attache 



the Equator/' writes as follows concerning the 
dread place : " You would scarcely expect to 
find in that awful Leper Settlement, a custom 
worthy to be transplanted to your own country. 
They have one such, and it is inexpressibly 
touching and beautiful. When death sets open 
the prison doors of life there, their band salutes 
the freed soul with a burst of glad music." 

On the second day of our visit to Hawaii we 
took a trip by boat along the coast and up to 
the new naval station of Pearl Harbor. 

The entrance to Pearl Harbor is through a 
very narrow channel, scarcely visible from the 
sea, and easily protected in time of hostilities. 
Passing through this gateway the course is 
winding and tortuous for a considerable dis- 
tance. Presently, however, the waters widen 
and the ship sails into a haven wonderfully 
peaceful. So deep is the water that vessels of 
the largest draft can move with greatest ease 
and freedom, and almost tie up to the shore. 
So sheltered is the harbor that even the most 
violent of ocean storms cannot endanger the 
safety of any ship within its kindly confines. 

All too brief was our visit at Hawaii, and it 
was with real regret that we departed thence. 
A more delightful spot I never hope to find, 

2 Yi 



An Unofficial Attache 



a more simple, good, and kindly people I know 
not, than those in the " Paradise of the Paci- 
fic/' — Honolulu. And as we re-embarked to 
continue our voyage on the " Thomas," we 
went out laden again with Leis, the flower- 
wreath of Hawaiian hospitality. 



18 



An Unofficial Attache 



HONOLULU TO GUAM 

AS the ^^ Thomas" steamed away from 
Honolulu we settled ourselves for the 
tedium of another fortnight on the tropi- 
cal sea. But the brief stoppage had refreshed 
us and had given us the sense of having really 
begun our tour of foreign lands. The pleasant 
recollections of Hawaii gave rise to keen an- 
ticipation of new and wonderful experiences 
yet to come. The cHmate became hotter with 
every league we put behind us. In vain we 
changed from thin clothing to thinner; the 
intense heat of the tropics seemed to envelope 
us in stifling folds. Fanned by the breezes of 
our own swift-moving ship, at night we found 
some rest by bunking on the open deck. 

Among the passengers aboard the transport 
I frequently noticed a group of well-dressed, 
jaunty-looking men in civilian costume who 
seemed to constitute a social centre, as it were, 
among the enlisted men and other passengers 
on the lower decks. They were all good-look- 

19 



An Unofficial Attache 



ing fellows and very " swagger," with an air of 
genial good-humor which seemed to be conta- 
gious. Their presence aboard the army trans- 
port proclaimed them to be commissioned on 
some kind of government business, yet clearly 
they were not soldiers nor doctors. Somehow I 
found myself assuming that they must be nurses 
bound for service in the Philippines. But my 
theory was rudely exploded one day when, on 
making inquiry of the captain, I was informed 
that my jaunty friends were undertakers^ sent 
over to the Philippines to exhume and return to 
the United States the bodies of such of our 
soldier boys who had lost their lives serving 
their country in our eastern possessions. 

On the night of Wednesday, October 16, 
1902, %NQ days after our departure from Hon- 
olulu, the '' Thomas " crossed the 180th meri- 
dian, the birthplace of the days. Our party 
was loyal to the time-honored custom of Pacific 
seamen, and held high carnival as the vessel 
crossed the line. Amidships, under the open 
sky, fluttered the flags of all nations and ample 
festoons of gay-colored bunting. The deck had 
been prepared like the floor of a ball-room, 
and the ship's musicians lured the light fan- 
tastic toe. Thus, with much merriment, we 

20 



An Unofficial Attache 



danced the lancers and the familiar round of 
waltzes. I remember that Mrs. Miles was 
my gracious partner for the " Virginia Keel." 
Altogether the evening was most delightful, 
and the hour was late when our merriment 
ceased and we went to our rooms to sleep. 

Now just here occurred the most disturbing 
incident of our whole journey. We went to 
bed (in good order too) on the evening of Octo- 
ber 16th. We opened our eyes to the sunshine 
of Friday, October 18th. Thursday, October 
17th, slipped past us unawares, somewhere in 
the darkness of the night. Perhaps it is still 
drifting about the wastes of the tropical Pacific, 
waiting to be picked up by some passing ship. 
Be that as it may, that is one day of my life 
which I have missed entirely. It skipped me 
altogether. Some facetious friend has insinu- 
ated that it is not necessary to go half-way 
round the globe to have the experience of going 
to sleep after an evening's merriment not to 
awaken until the next day has spent itself; 
but this I regard as an insinuation not worthy 
of notice. It was also hard for me to under- 
stand that when we stood at longitude 164° 
14' East, latitude 18° 12'' North, at noon on 
October 20th, it was 6.45 p.m. of yesterday 

21 



An Unofficial Attache 



(October 19th) at Cincinnati. Yet such was 
the case, as I was informed by our captain. 

On Sunday, October 19th, we experienced 
the only rough weather of the entire Pacific 
trip. The sea ran high and very rough. The 
wind blew in a gale and whipped the ocean into 
a white foam. The ^^ Thomas " plunged and 
tossed at a rate calculated to strike awe into 
the heart of the landlubber. But most of our 
party were in no mood to revel in the majesty 
of the storm. Strange as it may seem, all 
religious services on board the '' Thomas " were 
omitted that day — as were all meals and prac- 
tically every other customary assemblage of 
passengers. There are times when it is best 
to be alone. 

Fortunately for me I have become immune 
against mal-de-mer, and consequently I was 
able to drink in the glorious exhilaration of 
the storm, which was, in fact, the tail end of 
a Pacific cyclone. 



An Unofficial Attache 



GUAM 

EARLY in the morning of October 25th 
the ^^ Thomas '' anchored in the harbor 
of Guam, the principal island of the 
Mariana or Caroline Group, commonly spoken 
of as the Ladrones. This last appellation, 
however, the people of the islands resent, inas- 
much as the word Ladrone means tliief. The 
story is told that one of the early navigators 
having explored a short distance inland on one 
of these islands returned to his landing place 
to find that the small boat in which he had 
come from his ship had been stolen by a band 
of natives. The wary marauders made good 
their retreat and secured their plunder, to the 
great disgust of the explorer, who thereupon 
entered those islands on the chart of his 
tour as the Ladrones or Thieves Islands. 

At the landing there is no town worthy 
of the name, a few straggling Nipa huts being 
the only evidence of settlement. These were 
the first examples I had ever seen of that 

23 



An Unofficial Attache 



method of architecture so general in the Phil- 
ippines and other tropical countries of the 
Orient. 

The construction of the Nipa hut is charm- 
ingly simple. Four large posts are driven 
into the ground at the four corners of the pro- 
posed building. These posts often extend 
twenty-eight or thirty feet into the air. A roof 
of thatch is built over the area included in this 
space, and the builder then works downward, 
siding, and finally flooring, his aerial domicile. 
The floor is several feet above the ground level, 
from ten to fifteen feet being the average height. 
The occupants climb into their nest either by 
means of a ladder or by a crude stairway not 
unlike those in use by the Pueblo Indians. The 
entire structure is of bamboo, from roof to floor. 
In the commoner huts the floors are merely bam- 
boo sticks lashed together and forming a rough, 
uneven surface. The cracks in such a floor are 
ample for the disposition of any scraps or 
garbage that may accumulate from the family 
larder. The thrifty housewife therefore needs 
merely to sweep and to cram the scraps and re- 
fuse food through the floor, when the chickens 
and other domestic fowl may share them with 
the goats which are sheltered " downstairs." 



An Unofficial Attache 



From this primitive shanty the evolution of 
the Nipa hut is most interesting. Some of the 
buildings of the better class are two stories in 
height^ with many rooms and hallways and 
ample verandas, and are. in all essential regards, 
comfortable and coramodious. In their best 
houses the floors are conspicuously beautiful, 
being inlaid with a sort of parquetry of strong 
and tastefully woven bamboo mattings. 

An amusing incident of the Spanish- American 
war occurred here at Guam. One of the ships 
of Admiral Dewey's fleet was preparing to 
bombard the town and fort of Agonia, the 
capital and principal town. As a preliminary 
warning, the captain ordered that a single shot 
be fired toward the city, which lies some seven 
miles from the coast. The governor of the 
island, in response to this hostile demonstra- 
tion, hurried to the shore and was taken aboard 
in the ship's launch. He regretted exceedingly, 
he explained, that he was unable to return in 
kind the gracious salute of the passing American 
vessel, but inasmuch as there was no ammuni- 
tion on the island he was obliged to forego this 
privilege. When he was told that the shot had 
been a hostile one, and that the United States 
and His Majesty the King of Spain were at 

25 



An Unofficial Attache 



war, his astonishment was marvellous to be- 
hold. Of course, there was nothing for him 
to do but to surrender, which he did cheerfully 
and unconditionally. 

Guam is now connected with the world by 
the new Pacific cable, and it is valuable to the 
United States principally as a cable station and 
a coaling place. 

Disembarking on the sandy shore we were 
met by the queerest-looking vehicles I had ever 
set eyes upon. Malay boys were perched on 
the front of these diminutive carryalls, and in 
the rope-traces were hitched little bulls. Most 
of these vehicles did not possess shafts in the 
sense in which we use the word, but the patient 
bull trudged along at the side of a single shaft 
or tongue. In other cases, two rough-chopped 
poles, disproportionately long, extended out in 
front, and the clumsy " Pegasus " trotted cheer- 
fully along between them. The seats consisted 
of a single plank running lengthwise of the 
cart at each side, with another board for the 
driver across the front. On some of the carts 
the seats ran along the centre facing outward, 
so that the passengers sat back to back as in 
Irish jaunting cars. A small victoria, the only 
carriage on the island, was provided for General 



An Unofficial Attache 



and Mrs. Miles. And thus we rode in style 
over the hard, white road of sea-shells from the 
harbor of the city of Ahonia. This primitive 
town of Nipa huts and a few old Spanish build- 
ings, barracks, churches, and the like, constructed 
of brick and plaster, contains a population of 
some three thousand, white, brown, and yellow. 
Nesting so high above the ground in their Nipa 
huts, the people secure some measure of im- 
munity from the miasmatic fevers which seem 
to be exhaled from the surface of the earth 
after sunset. But the island itself is subject to 
frequent attacks of ague-chills which make it 
shiver and shake in a manner most distressing. 
The week before our arrival had experienced 
one of those tropical earthquakes of unusual 
violence and duration. Many buildings in the 
town were completely demolished, and the en- 
tire town was wofully damaged. The United 
States garrison, though badly shaken up, suffered 
no loss of life. An American coaling ship in 
the harbor took a frightful lunge and careened 
to such an extent that the captain thought his 
vessel was sharing the fate of the ill-starred 
" Maine " at Havana, and was preparing to 
abandon the sinking ship. After this first 
violent shock, however, the vessel righted her- 

27 



An Unofficial Attache 



self, and it was discovered that the only damage 
wrought was in the steward's department, where 
every single piece of glass and china-ware was 
shattered. 

However, it would seem that nothing short 
of an earthquake could disturb the placid in- 
dolence of Guam. Rich in all the natural re- 
sources of a tropical land, producing cocoanuts, 
dates, bananas, and other fruits, sugar and rice, 
Guam should not only be capable of maintain- 
ing itself, but, under the influence of modern 
methods, the island ought to become of real value. 
But the withering blight of Oriental indolence 
and the enervating influence of the climate com- 
bine to prevent anything like a healthy growth 
in civilization, material or intellectual. 

The island was utilized by the American 
-Government as a political prison for the safe- 
keeping of such of the Filipino irreconcilables 
as the fortunes of guerilla warfare placed in 
our hands. Here I met Mabino, the Secretary 
of State to the so-called Aguinaldo Government. 
Mabino impressed me as the most intellect- 
ual Filipino I encountered. By all standards 
of judging men I should consider him greatly 
the superior of Aguinaldo, whom I met later 
at Manila. 

28 



An Unofficial Attache 



A helpless paralytic, though comparatively 
young in years, Mabino held himself proudly in 
his banishment, and the whole bearing of the 
man proclaimed him to be a person of distinc- 
tion and of character. He was one of those 
rare individuals who leave their impress upon 
the mind of every one who comes within the 
range of their mental activity. 

Our journey around the world brought us 
into the presence of many of the notables of 
diverse lands, but this lonely exile of Guam 
left in my mind an impress of true greatness, 
by comparison with which the pomp and pag- 
eantry of some crowned royalty is as sounding 
brass or the tinkling cymbal. 

Wherever the Stars and Stripes float over far- 
away lands there will be found soldier boys 
homesick, homesick, homesick. But nowhere 
have I seen a detachment of American soldiers 
so utterly, hopelessly homesick as those sta- 
tioned at Agonia. There is no excitement of 
war to keep them on the qiii vive, no incen- 
tive to action, and no legitimate channel for the 
healthful exercise of mind and body which 
makes the life of the soldier tolerable. Though 
the Army and Navy Club provides some enter- 
tainment for the officers stationed at Agonia, 

29 



An Unofficial Attache 



the arrival of a transport bringing letters and 
papers from home is the only event of interest 
to the enlisted men; and time drags wearily. 
One day at Guam was enough, and I was not 
sorry that evening when we returned to the 
ship in an army ambulance placed in commis- 
sion as an omnibus. The idea of leaving Guam 
in an ambulance appealed strongly to our sense 
of fitness. 

Honolulu is the Paradise of the Pacific; 
Guam is at least the Purgatory. 



30 



An Unofficial Attache 



MANILA 

ON the tliirtieth day of October, the 
"Thomas" entered the straits of San 
Bernardino. The course through the 
strait is twisted and tortuous, and so shallow 
that the seamanship of our pilot was put 
to an exacting test. Hugging the shore, now 
on this side, now on that, it seemed that our 
vessel must surely scrape bottom. But pres- 
ently the great Corrigidor light appeared stand- 
ing solitary on its rocky promontory. Then 
we entered the narrow channel which opens 
into the circle of Manila Bay. Almost in front 
of our bows nestled the ancient city of Manila, 
her ample harbor crowded with the ships of many 
nations. To our right, closely discernible along 
the shore, a few white cottages indicated the 
location of Cavite. Scattered along near the 
shore for a distance of several miles the wrecks 
of the Spanish armada bore evidence of the 
passing of Spanish authority forever from the 
land of the Filipino. Here I counted no less 

31 



An Unofficial Attache 



tlian a dozen battered hulks, half submerged in 
the shallow bay, mute evidences of Dewey's 
victory and of the beginning of a better day 
for the Philippines. 

The sun was setting as we dropped anchor, and 
the salute which greeted us was the sunset gun. 
On shore, somewhere in the distance, we heard 
the stirring refrain of the Star Spangled Banner. 
Owing to the lateness of the hour, and to the 
quarantine regulations, we did not leave the 
ship until the following morning. However, 
our arrival had been expected, and a number of 
prominent military officers, together with a rep- 
resentative of Governor Taft, came aboard that 
night to welcome us to Manila, and to offer our 
party the hospitality of their city and of their 
homes. 

Almost at break of the following day we were 
astir, and preparing to take our final leave of 
the " Thomas," and to resume, for a few weeks 
at least, the more eventful life ashore. But 
one more little incident of the sea remained to 
put a pleasing j^?22s to our life aboard. 

In the golden sunlight the entire fleet of 
American vessels at the naval station across the 
bay headed their course toward our anchorage, 
and, in gay procession, glided swiftly and grace- 



An Unofficial Attache 



fully in formal line to greet the commanding 
officer of the army. Halting at respectful dis- 
tance, the flagship of Rear Admiral Wildes 
gave the proper signal, and the huge guns of 
the squadron woke the echoes of the bay with 
thunderous welcome. Then the steam launches 
bearing the admiral and his staff, and those of 
the officers of various ships, sped to the side of 
the " Thomas.'' 

Thus the navy saluted the army, — a cere- 
mony observed in full-dress uniform and with 
a certain formal dignity which did not in the 
least detract from its cordiality. The little re- 
ception on board the " Thomas " was soon over ; 
the launches returned to their ships ; the colors 
dipped to salute the general, and the fleet 
steamed back across the bay to Cavite, the 
naval headquarters. Soon after this our party 
bade good-bye to the " Thomas '' and her crew, 
and, embarking in the launches which came to 
take us ashore, we came merrily to the landing 
place. 

At the wharf, General Miles and his party 
were accorded a reception which was genuinely 
American in its cordiality and in military cere- 
mony. Four troops of cavalry and two or three 
companies of infantry formed an escort of 
3 33 



An Unofficial Attache 



honor. The general, mounted on a fine horse 
and attended by his stai^ and the commanding 
officers of the troops quartered in and about 
Manila, rode at the head of the procession. 
Carriages were provided for the ladies and 
the civilian members of the party. In other 
vehicles were prominent civil authorities and 
notables of Manila. 

To the martial music of a regimental band 
our detachment took its way from the wharf 
into the heart of the old walled city, the nucleus 
around which Manila has grown into a great 
cosmopolis of some two hundred and fifty 
thousand souls. 

The old town is very picturesque with its 
Spanish architecture, buildings of stone, plaster 
and tile ; here one may imagine himself in some 
corner of old Madrid or Seville. The square- 
built houses, with the open courts or patios in the 
centre, revealed glimpses of splashing fountains 
and leafy palms. The latticed windows sug- 
gest tales of cavalier and signorita, and of the 
romance of Spanish love and intrigue. 

We moved along the crowded thoroughfares 
of old town and of new, our eyes greeted on 
all sides by the familiar sight of the Stars and 
Stripes. However great may be one's love for 

64 . 



An Unofficial Attache 



the flag of his country, unspeakable emotion 
wells up in heart and eyes when one sees 
that simple emblem of our nation's hopes 
and fears floating to the breezes of lands or 
oceans far remote from home. 

Passing the Estada Major, or military head- 
quarters of Manila, the infantry escort to our 
party was detached, and we continued our march 
to the palace of the Malacannan, the official 
residence of Governor Taft, attended only by 
the cavalry troops. 

Our course took us through the Luneta, 
the beautiful public park which is the great 
Praclo or promenade of the crowded city. The 
carriages of the wealthy parade the driveway 
in the late afternoon, and all sorts and condi- 
tions of men rub elbows as they promenade 
upon the well-kept walks. An orchestra fills 
the air with sweet music, American and native 
musicians alternating with the days. But be 
the orchestra of white men or of brown, of 
American birth or of the Oriental blood, each 
evening's concert closes with the Star Spangled 
Banner. Whenever the first stave of the 
familiar and soul-stirring chorus rises from 
the brazen throats of the instruments, every 
individual within the range of its sweet music 



An Unofficial Attache 



rises to his feet, every man removes his hat, 
and even the dark-skinned, barefooted urchins 
of the street pull tattered caps from woolly 
locks in respectful salute to the flag of our 
land. 

Verily, the Filipino shall teach us how to be 
patriotic Americans. 

The Luneta plays a part in the civic life of 
Manila which is unlike that of any single park 
or resort in an American city. Not only is it a 
place of fashionable resort and promenade, but 
it is also the general rendezvous for men of 
affairs. It is a sort of general meeting place, 
and the expression, '' Meet me on the Luneta," 
means much the same as " Meet on 'Change," 
"Meet me at the club." The Luneta is 
neutral ground on which all can meet. The 
main driveway extends for perhaps three- 
quarters of a mile along the shore of the bay, 
beyond the region of the crush of commerce 
and the noise of traffic. 

At the end nearest the heart of the city 
stands the old Spanish fortress and prison of 
Santiago. This spot on the beautiful Luneta 
has been stained with the crimson life-blood 
of many a wretch justly sentenced to pay with 
his life for the crimes of his hands. But the 

36 



An Unofficial Attache 



blood of martyrs has mingled in its dust with 
that of the vilest criminals. 

Here it was that ^Hhe best hope of the 
Filipino people was crushed/' when at dawn, on 
the thirtieth of December, 1896, Dr. Jose Eizal, 
the patriot who had dared to speak the truth 
for the religious and political emancipation of 
the people of the Philippines, was put to death. 

Eizal, by many conceded to be the greatest 
man the Malay race has ever produced, was a 
man of strong, virile mind, brave enough to 
think and to speak, not only for himself but 
for humanity and for righteousness. Born and 
reared in the Philippines, himself a devout 
Eoman Catholic, Rizal grew to manhood under 
the sinister influences of a corrupt local admin- 
istration. Church working hand in hand with a 
rotten, temporal Government for the aggran- 
dizement of the mighty at the sacrifice of the 
weak. His keen insight detected the sham 
and hypocrisy which so often masked in the 
garb of friar or padre, and his whole soul re- 
volted at the sight of the spiritual and material 
degeneration which Church and State combined 
to foster in the name of Religion and of Law 
and Justice. 

^^A force working for righteousness" at 
37 



An Unofficial Attache 



home, Rizal, when still a young man, went to 
Europe, where, as a student in one of the an- 
cient seats of learning, he put into the form of 
a novel, a picture of the life of the Philippine 
people. "Noli me tangere," " Touch me not," 
he called his work. Herein, with masterful 
art, faithful always to the truth and to his 
high ideal, he set before the world the cause of 
the Filipino, groping for enlightenment between 
the corruption of Spanish tyranny and the be- 
sotted ignorance and haughty arrogance of the 
ecclesiasticism of the religious corporations. 

The nations heard the pleading, and the eyes 
of civilization were turned toward far Luzon. 
Rizal, upon returning to his native land, — the 
land he loved even more than his life, — was 
hailed by the people as a new prophet. But 
the Nation and the Church which fathered the 
Holy Inquisition of the Middle Ages had not 
forgotten the sweetness of revenge. Convicted 
by due process of law for having incited se- 
dition against the lawful authorities, Jos6 Rizal, 
the martyr of the Philippines, was executed, 
leaving behind him a memory and a hope. 

The city of Manila is made up of several 
distinct parts or districts of which the old 

38 



An Unofficial Attache 



walled town is but one. The district of 
Malacannan, one of the modern divisions, is 
the residence section of the wealthier citizens. 
Entering this part of the town from the Lnneta, 
our party passed along the narrow streets 
fringed on either side by stately palms and 
other tropical plants. Attractive homes nestled 
on the shady lawns to our right and to our left. 
Presently we entered the park of the palace 
of the governor. These spacious grounds are 
decked in all the glory of eternal summer. 
Here the lavish richness of nature is enhanced 
by the deft care of the landscape artist. The 
huge leaves of palm and banana mingle their 
shadows on the soft turf. Fountains splash 
musically in their rocky basins, and cheerful 
monkeys frolic. One patriarchal chimpanzee 
of vast self-importance reviewed our little army 
from his unfettered perch, and frowned with 
grotesque solemnity upon our cavalcade. 

At the door of the palace our military escort 
left us, and we were met by Governor and Mrs. 
Taft, who greeted us with that same cordiality 
which always characterized them at home, and 
which all the ceremony and stately magnificence 
of their official life could not rob of an iota of 
its simple sincerity. The reception which fol- 

39 



An Unofficial Attache 



lowed our arrival was of the most informal 
character, being confined to the members of 
our own little party and a score or so of mili- 
tary and civil officers who took this occasion 
of paying their respects to General and Mrs. 
Miles. The palace itself is a large, square- 
looking building with no suggestion of severity. 
The fagade is not unlike that of old Venetian 
palaces, graceful and dainty in every detail. 
From the driveway a few steps lead into a great 
hallway or foyer on the ground floor. A grand 
staircase winds from this apartment to the 
second floor, on which are the ofiicial head- 
quarters of the governor, the public reception 
halls and banquet-rooms, and the suites of living 
rooms for the private use of the governor and 
his family. 

The walls are richly panelled in woods of un- 
usual beauty. On all sides the eye is pleased 
by the tasteful arangement of the furnishings 
and the harmonious effect of the tout ensenible. 
The tapestries and hangings are of rich silk and 
embroideries, the furniture of handsomely carved 
hard woods. From massive gilded frames old 
Spanish governors and their signoras looked 
down upon the scenes in which they no longer 
play a part. 

40 



An Unofficial Attache 



With noiseless steps and expressionless faces 
Chinese serving-men move about their duties. 
The bright colors of their gowns and their long 
black queues add a touch of picturesqueness to 
the impressive stateliness of the palace halls. 

Great balconies extend the entire length of 
the building on every side. Venetian blinds 
or translucent screens formed from the pearly 
lining of oyster-shells shield the v^indows from 
the intense heat of the sun. 

Stepping out into the balcony at the west 
side of the palace, one looks down upon the 
placid water of the Pasig Eiver, dotted with the 
swift-moving little boats of native truck-farmers 
carrying their products to the city markets or 
returning to their Nipa houses along the river- 
banks. Queer little boats are these, long and 
narrow dugouts, formed from single tree-trunks. 
The native boatman, seated on the floor of his 
unstable craft, propels it by strong, clear-cut 
strokes of his single paddle. Clad only in a 
loin-clout or a pair of breeches, his lithe and 
muscular body glistens in the sunshine. His 
pet rooster is perched in lordly pride upon the 
bow of his canoe. 

The rooster is omnipresent in Manila. Not 
infrequently on the street family vehicles, or 

41 



An Unofficial Attache 



stalls in market-places, are lorded over by their 
own pet roosters, who are creatures of great dis- 
tinction, and are treated with every mark of 
deference and consideration by the individual 
or family to whom they belong. 

By twos and threes the guests took their 
departure. General and Mrs. Miles immedi- 
ately became members of the Taft family 
circle. The various members of our party be- 
took themselves to the ready hospitality of re- 
discovered friends. The writer was carried off, 
bag and baggage, to the " Bungalow," the beauti- 
ful home of Major and Mrs. Henry T. Allen. 

The Bungalow is a charming structure of 
bamboo and plaster, built after the style of the 
better class of dwellings in India and the 
tropics. Surrounded by palms and other native 
trees, the house stands almost directly across 
the street from the governor's palace. A 
greater contrast in architecture could scarcely 
be imagined than that presented by these two 
buildings in the massive stateliness of the palace 
and the light flexibility of the bamboo dwelling. 
From its thatched roof to the lintels of the door- 
ways, the Bungalow is an example of the most 
delicate and exquisite workmanship of purely 
Oriental type. Constructed for coolness rather 

42 



An Unofficial Attache 



than for great strength, the house is furnished 
in keeping with its architectural conception. 
Everywhere the eye rests on cosy corners luxu- 
rious with wicker chairs and couches and a 
wealth of cushions. The ceilings and some of 
the partition walls are of gray plaster, rough 
finished, and giving a sense of spaciousness and 
coolness which is most welcome. 

While here I noticed a queer custom which 
at first impressed me with a sense of the un- 
canny, but which, from frequent repetition in 
almost every house of the better class which I 
visited in Manila, I later learned to regard 
first with toleration, and eventually with a full 
appreciation of its practical aspects. 

In the evening, as Major Allen and I sat 
smoking and talking of old times, my attention 
was attracted by a queer little squeak, like the 
cry of a tree-toad, which seemed to come from 
the ceiling. Looking up I saw a green lizard, 
perhaps four or ^n^ inches in length, which had 
just caught a large moth-miller of which he 
was preparing to make a feast. In an instant 
there appeared another grotesque monster, 
nearly twice as large as the first. With a 
vicious lunge the newcomer attacked the cap- 
tor of the moth, and fiercely strove to rob him 



An Unofficial Attache 



of liis prey. Holding gamely to his supper, 
the little fellow struggled to free himself from 
his tormentor, who held him firmly by the scaly, 
shell-like covering of his tail. With a desperate 
pull the little fellow jerked himself out of his 
coat of man and scampered away, still holding 
tight to his dearly purchased supper. But in 
vain, his Nemesis pursued him to a corner, 
where he was obliged to turn and fight, no 
longer for a mere savory mouthful, but to pre- 
vent himself from furnishing a feast for his 
cannibalistic foe. And so, like the fabled dog 
with the bone, crossing the crystal brook on a 
fallen log, he dropped the bone of this conten- 
tion, which fell fiuttering to the floor, and both 
lizards went to bed supperless. 

My host showed not the least discomfiture 
at seeing these ugly reptiles in his home, and I 
later learned that they are encouraged to take 
up their abode in every well-ordered household, 
because of their great value as domestic police, 
effectually driving away the mosquitoes and 
noxious insects which abound in these sections 
of the tropics. So the lizards have free access 
to every room, — kitchen, dining-room, parlor, 
bedroom, and attic. The mosquitoes of Manila 
would make the pests of New Jersey hide their 

44 



An Unofficial Attache 



heads under their wings and blush for their de- 
generate and peace-loving habits. Here they 
literally swarm, and mosquito bars are a neces- 
sity the year round. On retiring to the com- 
parative security of a well-screened bed, the 
visitor, even in December, turns and perspires 
for hours, wondering if the heat will ever per- 
mit of sleep. 

On retiring to the shelter of my mosquito 
bar I was decidedly embarrassed to find that 
my bed had not been made up. The bar 
covered only what seemed to be a bedstead 
on which there was a framework of heavy 
woven bamboo. Springs and mattress were 
lacking, and the only bedclothing to be seen 
consisted of a pair of woollen blankets and a 
big bolster, round and hard. Though surprised 
at such oversight, I could not bring my courage 
to the point of disturbing the family, who had 
retired, and so I stood the bolster in the corner 
and lay down upon the hard lattice-work, and 
vainly strove to sleep. I soon began to ache 
in every bone and muscle, as I rolled and turned 
uneasily on my couch. I would have crawled 
out on to the floor, but the soothing lullaby of 
the mosquitoes outside my bar reminded me 
that discretion was the better part of valor. 

45 



An Unofficial Attache 



Furthermore, I had an unpleasant prejudice 
against the lizards which I had seen on the 
walls, so I remained in my bed. The hours 
dragged slowly \ in vain I turned from one side 
to the other, my bruises only grew more pain- 
ful. To lie upon my back would be to break 
my spinal column. The one balm to my suffer- 
ing body was a cooling breeze which circulated 
through the bed and about my weary limbs. 
At about four o'clock in the morning, the tem- 
perature took a sudden drop, and I eagerly 
wrapped myself in the blankets, thus procuring 
a little padding to relieve the stony hardness of 
the bed, and enabling me to secure two or three 
hours of needed sleep. 

I thought the neglect of the servants would 
surely be discovered, and that the next night I 
should get some repose. But when I retired 
the following evening, I found my blankets 
neatly folded and that aggravating bolster 
placed in uninviting stiffness at the head of the 
bed. And so I spent another night in futile 
efforts to lie lightly, without allowing my full 
weight to press upon these miserable slats of 
bamboo. 

On the morning of the third day of my visit, 
Major Allen, at breakfast, asked me how I had 

46 



An Unofficial Attache 



slept, and how I got along with my ^' Dutch 
Wife." In some embarrassment and much 
bewilderment I confessed that I had scarcely 
slept for two nights, and that I did not know 
whom or what he meant by my " Dutch Wife." 
My embarrassment was not in the least relieved 
at the burst of laughter in which my hosts 
indulged at my expense. I knew instantly 
that I had made some bad exhibition of green- 
ness, and I felt like the farmer who, upon 
visiting some city relatives, had been shown to a 
room in which there was a folding bed, and who 
declared, after one experience, that he would 
rather sleep in a hay-mow any time than in one 
of " them there durned clothes-presses " with a 
'^ lookin'-glass in the side of it." 

Then I learned that the long stiff bolster 
which had so offended me with its formal use- 
lessness was of the utmost utility. The beds 
are made with reference to coolness, and to lie 
upon a mattress, however thin, would be to 
swelter in a pool of perspiration. In order to 
procure the free circulation of air, the frame of 
the bed is constructed as I have described. 
And the "Dutch Wife" or bolster is provided 
to take the heavy pressure of the body off 
the bamboo framework. The sleeper embraces 

47 



An Unofficial Attache 



this bolster, and by throwing one arm and one 
leg across it, and holding tightly, he divides 
the weight of body between the bolster and 
the bed-frame. 

The remaining nights of my visit with the 
Aliens, and later at the home of Governor Taft, 
I courted my " Dutch Wife," and though it made 
me laugh at first, I soon learned the trick of 
sleeping Filipino-fashion. 

My host, Major Allen (now a brigadier- 
general), was and still is the head of the 
department of the native constabulary, work- 
ing thus in constant and close touch with 
Governor Taft and the civil authorities of the 
Philippines. From Major Allen I gained a 
comprehension of the problem of the brigands 
or " ladrones " whose lawlessness and atrocities 
have for centuries been the terror of the 
Spanish colonies in the West Indies, as well 
as in the Philippines. 

From the beginning of her history as a colo- 
nizing nation, Spain pursued a policy of banish- 
ing her criminals to the foreign lands which 
flew the Spanish flag, thus endeavoring to 
develop her new possessions by the agency of 
those whose crimes at home had demonstrated 
their unfitness even to share in the rights of 

48 



An Unofficial Attache 



citizens. In the course of time, the better 
element of pioneers and hardy adventurers 
came to the rescue of the colonies thus founded. 
Villages and towns grew up in the wild coun- 
tries with the onward march of civilization. 
The mother-country persisted in augmenting 
the population of her colonies with the surplus 
of her prisons. But this element could never 
blend into the health}^ life of the new communi- 
ties. The outlaws remained outlaws, and their 
presence was the curse of the struggling colonies. 
Following the wild dictates of their natures, 
these men took to the roads, and became the 
terror of the highways, plundering and mur- 
dering the lonely travellers on the pioneer trails. 
As time went on, these bands of robbers were 
augmented by new recruits, men whom the 
grasping hands of Spanish tax-gatherers had 
robbed of hard-earned competence, men whom 
the greed of Spanish governors or the cunning 
schemes of priests or friars had ruined. Such 
men as these, made desperate, joined with the 
bandits, thus, in a measure, following the 
example set by the State and by the Church. 
Their method of robbing was less artistic and 
much more perilous than that which paraded 
itself in priestly gown or operated by a royal 
4* 49 



An Unofficial Attache 



charter, but it differed not in fundamental 
character. 

In assuming control of the Spanish Phil- 
ippines, the United States took upon itself the 
responsibility of establishing the majesty of 
law and order. The brigands who rush down 
upon the peaceful farmhouse, murder the 
occupants, and set fire to the cabin and barns, 
bearing away their plunder to hiding places in 
the mountains, are being hunted down and 
punished. Law and the security of every 
individual are being established. And to-day, 
in the very beginning of American ascendency 
in the Philippines, there is less brigandage, less 
highway robbery, less fiendish rapine and mur- 
der in Luzon than at any time in the last three 
hundred years. 

The week we spent in Manila was full of 
interesting experiences, and gave us ample op- 
portunities for viewing the life and customs in 
that old city. To the sight-seer, the old walled 
city presents the greatest attractions. Here are 
located the headquarters of the governor, the 
civil commission, and other public buildings, 
all imposing old structures of Spanish archi- 
tecture. Here occurred one of those incidents 
which demonstrate how close is the association 

50 



An Unofficial Attache 



which has bound Governor Taft to the heart 
of the native people, especially those of the 
working classes, — Taios, as they are called. 

One evening as I entered the government 
building I was surprised to see a long row of 
Taio women seated Oriental fashion on the 
stairway and along the floor of the corridor 
which leads to the private offices of the gov- 
ernor. There were in the delegation between 
one hundred and fifty to two hundred of them, 
all intent upon some matter of gravest import, 
as the resolute expressions of their faces and 
the suppressed excitement of their manner 
indicated. 

In the governor's office the cause which 
had brought them together was being heard. 

A dispute had arisen between the Friar Padre 
of a certain parish and the women of his con- 
gregation. The padre had been officially ap- 
pointed to his charge by the authorities of the 
Koman Catholic Church, supplanting one Friar 
Aglipay, an eccentric but magnetic individual 
whose aggressive personal and perhaps political 
ambitions had brought him into open rupture 
with the Church of Eome. Aglipay has since 
proven himself to be a person of considerable 
force, and a thorn in the side of the established 

51 



An Unofficial Attache 



Churcli, having seceded entirely from tliat or- 
ganization, and being still actively engaged in 
an effort to found a new Churcli to be called 
the Philippine Catholic Church. 

The new padre had not proven acceptable to 
the congregation over which he was placed, 
and his tactless utterances had been met with 
hostility. The women of the parish had taken 
possession of the church, barricading doors and 
windows, and mounting guard in the sacred 
edifice day and night. The keys they held, and 
they not only refused to surrender them to 
their new shepherd, but with open defiance 
they declared their intention of maintaining a 
state of siege as long as such a course seemed 
necessary. 

"The church is ours," they declared, "and 
no one shall take it from us. Our fathers and 
mothers before us, and their fathers and mothers 
before them, have worshipped here. Our own 
ancestors built the church and paid for it in the 
hard labor of their hands. Our fathers and 
mothers taught us to love the church, and we 
have supported it with our contributions and 
gifts. The church is ours and we will not give 
it up." 

In vain the ecclesiastical authorities argued 
52 



An Unofficial Attache 



and threatened. But pleadings and threats were 
of no avail; the resolute Taio women still re- 
tained the keys and kept their garrison in 
possession of the church. At this critical junc- 
ture the unpopular padre proposed to arbitrate, 
leaving the decision of the matter to the local 
police authorities, or to some court of competent 
jurisdiction. This offer was refused, but the 
women declared their willingness to submit the 
case to the final arbitrament of Governor Taft. 

When the time for the hearing arrived, the 
Friar Padre and his legal advisers appeared to 
plead their cause, and Aglipay presented the 
case of the women. The resolute band of de- 
fenders, trusting in the righteousness of their 
cause, came in a body to Manila to re-inforce 
their representative, and to hear for themselves 
the verdict of the governor. But, alas for their 
hopes, the law in the case was clearly against 
them ; Governor Taft is at Manila no less the 
judge than he was formerly in the United 
States. The property in question belonged to 
the regular Roman Catholic Church organization, 
and must be returned to the rightful owners. 

The decision was announced to the delegation 
of women waiting in the hall. Their disappoint- 
ment was pitiful, and their hatred for the padre 

53 



An Unofficial Attache 



was in no measure lessened. However, they 
refused point-blank to surrender their keys 
either to the Roman dignitaries or to the civil 
police authorities. Only into the hands of the 
governor would they place the keys. To the 
governor they would yield compliance with 
the laWy even though the law was wrong and 
sinful. The governor should take possession 
of their church home and their altar, and he 
alone should execute the letter of the law, re- 
storing their beloved house of worship to those 
whom the law declared to be the owners. 

This episode impressed me deeply, as indica- 
tive of the high regard and unquestioning con- 
fidence in which the Taio, or working people of 
Manila, hold the governor. They have learned 
to look upon him as the living incarnation of 
justice and law. They know that his decisions 
will rest upon the law, unbiassed by personal 
feeling or class prejudice. And in this manner 
there is growing up among them a new 
sense of the majesty of the law and of the 
fundamental principles which underlie good 
government, making mob law or anarchism 
impossible. 



54 



An Unofficial Attache 



A DAY IN THE STREETS OF MANILA 

THE ancient walled town, gray with 
age, but defying the ravages of 
time, furnishes a strange stage for 
the busy scene of twentieth century traffic 
and industry which surges along the narrow 
streets, from the grim old Fort Santiago 
across the bridges which span the Pasig River. 
Early in the morning, before the heat of the 
sun has begun to render life a burden, the 
merchants open their shops, and busy clerks 
hustle in and out with cases of copra, rice, 
tobacco, hemp, sugar, fruits, and other native 
produce. Here and there commission houses 
do a thriving trade in matting and other 
articles woven from the native reeds. Hats of 
Philippine manufacture, very fine in quality 
and greatly like those we know as Panama 
hats, find a ready market both at home and 
in foreign lands. A few manufacturers pro- 
duce fine fabrics of silk and cotton fibre known 
as jusi, — pronounced hoo-si, — which consti- 

55 



An Unofficial Attache 



tutes the finest dress-goods for the women in 
the Eastern tropics. 

Plodding carabao, or water buffalo, pull the 
heavy laden drays and carts to the wharves, 
where the precious cargo is piled high, to be 
stored away in the deep holds of the merchant- 
men destined for many foreign ports. From 
the basement rooms of square-built Spanish 
houses, the family cows and goats low or bleat 
for the morning's feeding and milking. Native 
or Chinese servants emerge from other doors 
on the ground-floors, in which their quarters 
are partitioned off from the stables of the 
domestic animals. 

Antiquated street-cars, drawn by mules, rattle 
along the streets, serving to emphasize the need 
of local rapid-transit facilities, rather than to 
supply that important demand. The busy mer- 
chant or the Filipino dame, bent on a morning's 
shopping, ignores this uncomfortable tram, and 
hails a passing '' camaretta," or pony carriage, 
of which there are a great many operating for 
comparatively small fees. The PhiHppine pony 
is used for all light draught for which the 
caribou or the mule would be inappropriate. 
These little animals are not much larger than 
the famous Shetland ponies, but they seem to 

m 



An Unofficial A ttacM 



be more like the mustang or Indian pony in 
their habits and general make-up. Tough as 
leather, wiry, and sure-footed, they have wonder- 
ful endurance, and they thrive in this climate 
where the larger horses of Europe and America 
can be kept alive only with great difficulty. 

For several hours the activity of shops and 
streets and market continues unabated. But 
as the morning waxes hotter, the life and 
energy seem to be melted out. At eleven 
o'clock the shop-keepers put up their shutters, 
lock their stores, and retire to their living 
quarters upstairs. The clerks and laborers 
disappear. The streets are deserted, and the 
whole city takes its midday nap. No one 
would any more think of doing business at noon 
than at midnight. From eleven until three 
Manila sleeps ; then the activities of the day 
are resumed. Shops are re-opened, the markets 
are noisy with the hawking of the stall-keepers, 
and Manila hustles like a Yankee town. 

Now it is that the " Escolta," the " Broadway 
of Old Manila," becomes gay with the bright 
jusi gowns of the ladies, as they look for bargain 
sales at the fashionable shops. The Escolta is 
not more than five or six blocks in length, as 
we measure distances, and it is uncomfortably 

m 



An Unofficial Attache 



narrow and crowded ; but from four to five 
o'clock in the afternoon it is the Mecca of 
fashion and the Rialto of trade. 

Gradually the crowd in the Escolta becomes 
less and less, as men and women of fashion, those 
who ride in their private camarettas, and those 
who must walk, rich and poor, old and young, 
men, women, and children, drift toward the 
Luneta, there to saunter leisurely homeward, or 
to linger in the balmy twilight and drink in 
the fresh breezes from the sea, and revel in the 
sweet music which fills the air. At seven the 
concert closes with the national air, carriages 
and pedestrians resume their homeward course, 
the Luneta is deserted, and Manila goes to 
dinner. 

The sanction of ages has set the seal of 
approval upon the brutal sport of cock-fighting, 
which is regarded among native Filipinos in 
much the same light in which bull-fighting 
is looked upon in Spain. But cock-fighting, 
with the attendant gambling and betting, has 
received a decided backset wherever American 
occupation has become firmly established, and 
in Manila it has been effectively suppressed. 
Other means of amusement find ample patron- 
age. Popular concerts always attract large 

58 



An Unofficial Attache 



audiences, and three or four theatres flourish. 
At the time of our visit at Manila, an American 
comedy company was presenting a series of 
farces and light comedies to crowded houses. 
It was amusing to notice the number of 
native men and women in the audience who, 
though unable to understand a word of Eng- 
lish, followed the performance with eager atten- 
tion, here, as everywhere in Manila, striving 
to comprehend the methods of the Anglo- 
Saxon whose energy and shrewdness are work- 
ing miracles throughout the islands. In other 
playhouses were presented variety bills and 
vaudeville performances in Spanish, English, or 
Tagalog, the hybrid language of the masses. 
Under the general auspices of the officers of the 
army and navy stationed at Manila, horse-racing 
has become a great fad, — the race-course, a 
few miles outside of the city, being a great 
rendezvous for the lovers of the sport, as well 
as for that large class of gamblers and book- 
makers who " play the races " at Manila no less 
than at Saratoga. The social life of Manila is 
not unlike that of large cities of America or 
Europe. Of course the gradations of wealth 
in large measure determine the social sets or 
cliques, and the heart-burnings and petty jeal- 

59 



An Unofficial Attache 



ousies of ^^ society'' are no less evident here 
than elsewhere. Keceptions and evenings at 
home are frequent, and these social gatherings 
are gay with the beautiful gowns of native jusi, 
thin and delicate as the finest gauze. The 
gentlemen wear suits of light cotton duck, and 
jackets mostly cut in the lines of military 
blouses, with collar buttoning high about the 
neck. Stiffly starched shirts and collars of linen, 
with claw-hammer coats, would be strangely out 
of harmony with the climate of the Philippines. 
One of the most arduous labors which 
devolve upon Governor Taft is that of fulfill- 
ing the social claims which are made upon 
him. No Filipino assemblage is complete with- 
out the presence of the governor, and not a day 
passes without its deluge of invitations request- 
ing the ^^ honor of the governor's presence," etc., 
etc. The governor makes it a point to accept 
as many such invitations as it is possible for 
him to do. His time is therefore occupied both 
day and night. 

The Church has under its auspices a good 
many fiestas or holidays, but of all the varied 
forms of recreation and festivity the Beile^ or 
country fgte, approaches most nearly to the 
position of a national custom. All classes of 

60 



An Unofficial A ttacM 



people, rich and poor alike, avail themselves of 
every occasion which offers an excuse for a 
picnic in the country. At these assemblages, 
the Spanish love of gay color, tinkling music, 
and stately minuet blend with the freedom 
and unconventional merriment which is native 
to the Filipino blood. We attended more than 
one such festival during our visit to the Phil- 
ippines, where, with feasting, drinking, song 
and dance under the overhanging branches of 
palm and lime, the time sped merrily. 

To the melody of guitar and mandolin, 
bright-gowned damsels and their beaux, in 
snowy white, tread the mazes of the courtly 
rigadon. Herein the one aim of the dancers 
seems to be the realization of a perfect grace 
and harmony of movement and of music, — 
the approximation of the ideally beautiful, 
rather than the more conventional and free- 
swing of the rhythmic waltz and two-step of 
America. 



61 



An Unofficial Attache 



ALONG THE DAGUPAN EAILWAY 

GENERAL MILES is a rapid mover, and 
he who would travel in his company 
must be prepared to keep everlastingly 
at it. Not a day, scarcely an hour, from the 
time of our arrival at Manila until the comple- 
tion of the tour of the Philippine archipelago 
did the general rest. The other members of 
the party were free to go and come when and 
where they pleased, always within the time- 
limit set by the completion of the work which 
our leader had in hand. The length of our 
stay at Manila permitted of much greater in- 
dependence of our individual plans and engage- 
ments than was possible at the other places 
included in our itinerary. While the general 
was hard at work visiting and inspecting the 
military quarters, and reviewing the troops in 
and about Manila, the rest of us were off sight- 
seeing, or availing ourselves of the hospitality of 
the Army and Navy Club, or of private individ- 
uals and public officials. Almost every night of 

m 



An Unofficial Attache 



our stay at Manila was eventful. Receptions 
at the Malacannan, dinners at various clubs or 
at army headquarters or with important citi- 
zens, and a host of other entertainments, made 
our visit replete with interest. 

The most memorable occasion on this visit, 
however, was the grand review of all troops 
in and about Manila, held before General Miles 
on the Luneta. All the branches of the service 
were represented and passed in parade before 
the commanding officer of the army, while the 
motley population of the ancient city crowded 
the park and roadside, cheering the soldiers and 
the general. 

Toward the end of our first week at Manila 
the duties of General Miles called for a trip of 
inspection of the military station along the 
route of the Dagupan railroad. This road runs 
one hundred miles north from Manila, through 
that part of the island which was the seat of 
the greatest resistance of the Aguinaldo faction 
against the forces of the United States. Every 
mile of ground along the route of the railroad 
has been the scene of skirmish, ambuscade, or 
battle, and the dead of two nations are buried 
where they fell. 

But the country through which this course 
63 



An Unofficial Attache 



lies is wonderfully fair. The gently sloping 
hills and quiet fertile district give little evi- 
dence of war or scenes of bloodshed. Yet the 
Stars and Stripes do not blow to the breezes 
of a thoroughly reconciled land, and at every 
station on the line of the railroad there was 
still an encampment of American soldiers, in 
readiness to suppress any acts of lawlessness 
or any interference with the peace of the high- 
way. Our train was drawn by an old-time 
locomotive, consuming a vast amount of wood, 
and taking on new supplies of this quick-burn- 
ing fuel at almost every stop, and stops were 
frequent, not more than five or ten miles 
apart. As we drew near to each station, our 
engine, with blazes leaping high out of her 
ample smoke-stack, and showers of sparks 
like a gigantic Roman candle, shrieked and 
whistled in a way calculated to awaken sleeping 
embers of rebellion in the whole country-side. 
Presently we drew up at the blackened ruins 
of a railway station, where our soldier boys in 
formal line greeted their commander with mili- 
tary honors. And to every loyal greeting from 
these frontier guardsmen the general responded 
with some words of cheerful encouragement, 
reminding the homesick soldiers that the peo- 

64 



An Unofficial Attache 



pie at home were not forgetful of them, and 
that it is the soldier in the nntamed lands who 
makes possible the spreading of better things. 
The well-chosen words of the senior officer of 
the army never failed to combine the elements 
of soldierly directness and command to duty 
with the deep sympathy and almost fatherly 
gentleness which grow out of thorough under- 
standing of the heart and life of the soldier. 
And it seemed to me that the cheers which 
followed the veteran chief from camp to camp 
proclaimed a loyalty which can be trusted to 
endure. 

At Dagupan, we found stationed the Fifth 
Infantry, United States army, the regiment of 
which Miles was colonel after the War of the 
Rebellion, and of which he has ever remained 
the patron saint. Despite the changes wrought 
by nearly thirty years, there still remained in 
the regiment two or three grizzled old comrades 
who had fought under Miles in the seventies. 
The occasion was a memorable one, not only 
for the soldier, but for all whom fortune per- 
mitted to be present. General Miles, now very 
near the end of his long and honorable career 
as a soldier, realizing that this would be the last 
time that he should be permitted to meet his 
5 65 



An Unofficial Attache 



old command before his retirement, was in- 
spired to that eloquence which Webster calls 
true eloquence, — that which exists in the man, 
in the subject, and in the occasion. Standing 
there before the regiment which he had loved 
for more than half his life-time, parting, not 
only from the associates of thirty years, but, in 
a sense, taking leave of the work which had 
been his life. Nelson A. Miles, in that tropic 
camp, spoke a few sentences of retrospect and 
farewell. His words were not recorded, but the 
tears which filled the eyes of the soldiers who 
heard him, and the rapt silence of all his audi- 
tors, pronounced this to be the most eloquent 
utterance which ever fell from his lips. Though 
his formal retirement did not occur until nearly 
a year later, I believe that, in his heart, General 
Miles dates the end of his official life from that 
day at far Dagupan. 



An Unofficial Attache 



CRUISE AMONG THE SOUTHERN 
ISLANDS 

ILOILO 

THE army transport " Ingalls/' a pretty- 
boat of small draught and considerable 
speed, was assigned to service for the 
cruise among the southern islands of the archi- 
pelago. And when, on the ninth day of Novem- 
ber, she steamed out of Manila Bay, bearing our 
party, considerably augmented by various army 
officers and prominent civilians, she presented 
the appearance of a large private yacht bent on 
a summer cruise, rather than that of a vessel 
dedicated to the god of war. So numerous 
was our company, and so limited the cabin 
accommodations of the ^^Ingalls," that we were 
obliged to " double-up " and share our state- 
rooms with one another. Under such condi- 
tions the equatorial nights were not conducive 
to sleep. But the rapid motion of the ship 
fanned our decks with breezes which moderated 
the sultry atmosphere even at midday. By 

67 



An Unofficial Attache 



night the charm of a moonlit sea and a gliding 
vision of verdant islands cast a subtle spell 
upon us, and we lingered late under the stars. 
My old love of the open air prompted me to 
make my bed on deck in a convenient ham- 
mock or an inviting wicker couch. 

In the thin gray of early morning, long before 
the sun appeared from his bed in the ocean, the 
serene quietude of my slumbers was rudely dis- 
turbed by a savage swishing of water and a 
noise as if a dozen fire-engines were at work 
upon our decks. Upon opening my sleepy eyes 
with a start, I sat bolt upright and received a 
vigorous shower bath from a line of hose with 
which the crew was washing the decks. My 
presence discerned, I was not slow to take ad- 
vantage of the opportunity to beat an inglori- 
ous retreat while the minions of cleanliness 
continued their vigorous exercise. 

On another occasion, as I slept peacefully 
under the open sky, a sudden downpour of 
rain, a tropical deluge, drenched me to the 
skin before I was fairly awake or able to get 
to shelter ; but barring these little diversions, 
which to my mind are far less to be dreaded 
than the sweltering heat of the cabin, my 
nights on board the " Ingalls " were blissful. 

68 



An Unofficial Attache 



The first stop on this trip was at the city of 
Iloilo in the southern part of the island of 
Panay. Here the " Ingalls " came to anchor 
in an ample harbor amidst a dozen ships of 
various countries. For a description of the 
events of this day I copy the following article 
from the Iloilo Times of Thursday, November 
13th, a facsimile of one page of which is 



herewith given. 



HAIL TO THE CHIEF 

A GEEAT DAY IN ILOILO, THE CITY, CIVILIAN, AS 

WELL AS MILITAKY, DOES HONOE TO 

GENERAL MILES 

THE GENERAL, WELL PLEASED WITH ILOILO, 
VISITS THE CLUBS. EECEPTION AT THE 
PALACE 

The long-looked-for event has come and gone and 
the City of Iloilo has had the opportunity of doing 
honor to the Nation's Military Chief. Monday 
evening a telegram came saying that General Miles, 
who arrived in Manila recently to make a tour of in- 
spection of the military situation in the Islands, was 
in Capiz and would arrive here early Tuesday morn- 
ing. This news came somewhat unexpected as on 
account of the fact that the telegraph and cable lines 
between here and Manila have been out of order for 

69 



An Unofficial Attache 



sometime it was not known that the General was 
so near this place. 

Business was practically suspended on Tuesday 
morning and the city presented a gay appearance 
being decorated with all manner of flags and palms. 
The day was perfect and well calculated for the 
occasion which was to take place. 

At Httle before eight a.m. the Transport " Ingalls," 
which brought General Miles and his party, was 
sighted coming up the Bay and an hour and a half 
later he landed at the Custom House wharf where 
the troops were arranged to receive him. The 29th 
Infantry was lined up beginning at the landing and 
extending well past the Custom House. At the 
intersection of this line with Calle Real, the Philip- 
pine Scouts were stationed, while from this point 
troops E and F of the First Cavalry extended along 
Calle Real. 

As the General stepped on shore, the customary 
salute of fifteen guns was begun. As soon as this 
salute ceased, General Miles, accompanied by his 
Aide, Colonel Maus the Department Commander, 
General Frank D. Baldwin, his Aide, Lieutenant 
H. A. Drum, all the local staff, and Sergeant John 
F. O'Connor of Troop E. First Cavalry was chosen 
Orderly for the General for the day, rode out into 
the vacant space for the first formalities of the 
inspection. On returning the mounted party rode 
out on Calles Muello and Progreso, circled the Plaza 
on the North, East and South, and took station be- 

70 



An Unofficial Attache 



tween the southwest corner of the square and Bis- 
choff's store, where the troops passed by in review. 

The troops generally comported themselves in a 
becoming manner and showed plainly the results of 
long and careful training. It may be said, however, 
that they hardly did their best that morning, as on 
one previous occasion they seemed to do better in 
practice. The General was observed to pay more 
than ordinary attention to the conduct of the Scouts 
and seemed well pleased with their work. 

In the afternoon, at 2.30 o'clock, the visitors, 
accompanied by a large number of friends began 
to make the rounds of the different clubs of the City 
in the following order. The Sociedad Artistica, the 
English Club, the Visayan Club, and the Sociedad Ar- 
tistica Recreativa. In each of these places the Gen- 
eral showed himself to be as much at home in society 
as he was in the presence of his troops. At the Visa- 
yan Club the General made a short speech in which 
he congratulated the Institution, thanked the mem- 
bers very kindly for the interest they had taken in 
making the day pleasant for him, and added that the 
thing that pleased him most was the sight of so many 
energetic young Americans, and people of other na- 
tionalities as well, who are determined to carry out the 
mission of America in the Eastern world. At the 
Sociedad Artistica-Recreativa, the General was pre- 
sented with two large, handsome paintings, represent- 
ing respectively a battle line of Filipinos and one of 
Americans. 

71 



An Unofficial Attache 



At the rooms of the Sociedad-Recreativa where a 
short program of music was given in the General's 
honor, he made a short speech in which he said that 
a nation as artistic as the Filipinos are, have a bright 
future. Referring to the paintings with which he 
was presented he said that the execution of the work 
was complete but he hoped that in the future the 
painters would never again have any reason to engage 
in representing scenes of war. He expressed great 
hope for the future of the Filipinos although they 
were considerably handicapped by their past calam- 
ities. 

General Lee, in a few words, and displaying 
considerable emotion, said that his greatest desire 
and hope is that the American flag may come to be 
loved and respected by the Filipinos as it is loved 
and respected by the Americans. 

General Miles was roundly cheered and shortly 
after his departure he and his Aide were made hon- 
orary members of the Club. At the reception in the 
evening at the Palace the General and his aide wore 
the characteristic emblem of the society. 

In the evening at eight o'clock at the casa gobi- 
erno the visitors were tendered a grand reception by 
the public in general, although provincial and mu- 
nicipal officials were chiefly instrumental in arrang- 
ing for the occasion. The time from eight to nine 
was spent in getting acquainted generally. From 
nine until twelve dancing was the order of the hour. 
General Miles and his party left the Palace about 

72 



An Unofficial Attache 



eleven o'clock in order to resume the voyage at 
twelve. They were accompanied by General Bald- 
win and his aide, Lieutenant Drum, during whose 
absence, Lieutenant Colonel F. A. Smith will be 
Acting Adjutant General. The route taken by the 
party will be from this place to the Jolo group, 
from there to Zamboanga, thence, to Cebu, and from 
there back to Manila. 

To one who had never seen General Miles before 
it was a pleasant surprise. Although he has passed 
the point of three score years, his appearance is that 
of a man of vigor and energy, is more than prepos- 
sessing and he looks every inch the soldier that he is. 
Mrs. Miles is a lady whose years have not diminished 
her beauty and who is in every respect a fitting com- 
panion for her worthy husband. 

The benefits of the General's visit in these parts 
cannot be over-estimated ; and it is safe to say that 
no event could have taken place that would have 
had the same good effect politically. The absolute 
impartiality with which General Miles gave and 
received attentions showed the diplomatic character 
of the man and counted for much permanent good 
here. 

The party accompanjdng General and Mrs. Miles 
on their tour of the Islands consists of Colonel Maus, 
Colonel Bailey, Major Scott, Captain Squires, Major 
Sawyer, Brigadier General Lee, Lieutenant McCas- 
key and Messrs. Rouse, Wiborg, Hoyt, Thirt and 
Pritchard. 

73 



An Unofficial Attache 



The General will spend in all about one month in 
the Islands after which he will sail for Siberia and 
will start for Europe via the Trans-Siberian Railway. 
He will be retired the third of next August and 
according to rule no one can succeed to his title 
unless Congress creates the rank. In such case 
General Young will probably succeed him. 

The Iloilo Times, despite the fact that it is 
printed in two languages, Spanish and English, 
bears unmistakable evidences of being con- 
ducted under Yankee auspices. From the 
^^Miscellaneous Column" I cannot resist the 
temptation to cull a few journalistic treasures 
which, made me feel quite at home. 

"Patrons of the Times should remember that 
the editorial and business rooms of the paper are no 
longer at No. 14 Calle Ortiz but have been removed 
to Calle Osorio, No. 2, just opposite the Convent and 
one door north of the Military Headquarters." 

" If the new Filipino Church succeeds in establish- 
ing itself, it will be one of those organizations that 
come up out of great tribulation." 

" Our esteemed contemporary, ' El Tiempo,' has 
come out with a decided improvement in general 
make-up by putting some news on the first page." 

74 



An Unofficial Attache 



"It was strikingly noticeable that no Spaniards 
attended the reception given to General Miles at 
the Palace although all other nationalities were well 
represented." 

"The jusi and pina dealers would like to see a 
Miles day every once in a while in these parts. 
They sold 500 pesos worth of cloth to the General 
and his party." 

"The General presents a fine figure in his uni- 
form, but we will wager it does not take him two 
minutes to get out of it and into neglige when he 
gets back on the Transport." 

" Americans who insist upon playing the r6le of 
* hobos ' in this country just because they are far 
from home will find out shortly that the home 
government will be brought to them and effectually 
administered." 



" Now we are certain that we shall have to get 
out an edition of that big dictionary, for here comes 
' La Laz ' the trilengual paper published in the 
Nineva Caceres and speaks about some unfortu- 
nates being held in 'durance vile.' 



1 5? 



" General Miles, in private conversation, expressed 
himself as very greatly surprised and pleasantly 
withal, at the reception tendered him at this place. 
He said that it was one of the most cordial recep- 

75 



An Unofficial Attache 



tions he had ever enjoyed and was not even second 
to that given him in Manila." 

The following news item, taken from the next 
column of the Thnes, had a decidedly foreign 
ring to it, and presents, from the view-point of 
the matter-of-fact native, a phase of the life in 
the Philippines which we touched upon when 
discussing the work of Major Allen and the 
native constabulary. 

MONTGOMERY'S ASSASSINS CAPTURED 

CONFESSED THEIE CRIMES AND SAY IT WAS FOR 
PURPOSES OF ROBBERY 

According to word received in this city from 
Bacolod, the men who murdered Division Super- 
intendent D. C. Montgomery, two weeks ago to- 
morrow near Bacolod have all been captured or 
killed. The survivors confess their crime freely 
and say that they had come down that way to steal 
carabaca that night, but as the prospects did not 
look very favorable they decided to look for other 
game. They say they were in Silay when Mont- 
gomery started for Bacolod and sent the boy on 
ahead to carry the satchel. Believing there was 
money in the grip they decided to hurry on ahead 
and ambush him. 

76 



An Unofficial Attache 



It is practically certain that no political signif- 
icance attaches to the murder, but it is also certain 
that he was not mistaken for some one else as was 
suspected by some at first. 

In the same column was this item of local 
importance. The Cosmopolitan Times prints a 
bit of news from New York. 

THE ELECTIONS IN THE STATES 

ODELL WAS ELECTED GOVEKNOR OF NEW YOEK 

OVER BIRD S. COLER, BY A PLURALITY OF 

EIGHT THOUSAND 

The Republican majority in the House of Repre- 
sentatiyes is thought to be about twenty-five. The 
estimated standing of the parties is given, as Re- 
pubHcan, 196; Democrats, 176; others, 11. 

Democrats carried the entire South. Republi- 
cans victorious in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, 
Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, 
New Hampshire and New York. 

From this it is evident that the far-off Philip- 
pines are kept in some kind of touch with the 
affairs transpiring in the United States. 

To us the city of Iloilo was as much an ob- 
ject of interest and curiosity as we evidently 
were to the people there. On our arrival we 

77 



An Unofficial Attache 



were much impressed with the evidences of war 
and destruction which marked the entire busi- 
ness section of the town. Blackened walls of 
masonry and heaps of ashes were all that re- 
mained to indicate the site of public buildings 
and of structures formerly the busy scenes of 
commercial activity. The native population in 
the early days of the Spanish- American War 
had set fire to their town to prevent it from 
falling into the hands of their old masters, the 
Spanish, who were planning to seize the city 
and make it the centre of military operations, 
which would, of course, mean the quartering of 
soldiers in the homes of the people and the 
plundering of their stores by an arrogant lot 
of legalized robbers. 

But upon the ashes of the old town, huge 
sheds and temporary structures of divers kinds 
serve for the present needs of public business 
and private enterprise, while new and perma- 
nent buildings are being erected as rapidly as 
possible. 

The reception which was tendered to General 
Miles in the evening was held at the governor's 
palace, — an old Spanish building plainly show- 
ing the evidences of a gradual degeneration 
which had doubtless been in progress for many 

78 



An Unofficial A ttacM 



years of Spanish rule and Spanish neglect. The 
entertainment was calculated to make the visi- 
tor feel that the people of Iloilo were experienc- 
ing a new awakening and a new determination 
to accomplish, to take advantage of the new 
opportunities which a free and progressive gov- 
ernment secures. No effort and no expense 
had been spared to make our visit pleasant 
for us and memorable in the annals of Iloilo. 

From the evidences of energy and activity 
which characterized the town and the people, 
I felt the conviction that the near future holds 
promise of good and permanent achievement 
for Iloilo. No longer a run-down colony of 
Spain, this city is striving earnestly to become 
Americanized and to develop along the lines of 
Anglo-Saxon civilization. It is at present the 
third city of the archipelago, and what is left 
of the place bears the imprint of the Spanish 
architecture of the tropics. 

Leaving Iloilo shortly after midnight, we con- 
tinued our cruise southeast, arriving at Siassi on 
the island of Jolo the following daybreak. Our 
arrival was evidently expected, for scarce had 
the ^^Ingalls " cast anchor, some three miles 
from shore, when a pygmy fleet of dugouts 
swarmed about us, noisy with the shrill cries of 

79 



An Unofficial Attache 



a crew of dark-skinned boys in nature's garb. 
" Here, capitan, here, capitan ! " they cried, hold- 
ing np their hands and beckoning wildly to 
attract attention from the party on the decks, 
and to elicit copper coins. As we flipped pen- 
nies into the air, their keen eyes flashed, follow- 
ing the course of the falling treasures. As the 
coins touched the water there would be a splash, 
splash, splash, and the lithe little amphibians 
dived deep after the alluring bait. 

'' Here, capitan, here, capitan ! '' this seemed 
to be the nearest approach they could make to 
speaking English, and to constitute the whole 
of their linguistic culture, beyond the jabbering 
of their noisy tongues. However, just as our 
stock of pennies was beginning to run out the 
ladies of our party came on deck prepared for the 
trip to shore. 

" Here, mamma, here, mamma ! '' shrieked a 
red-lipped Zulu, as Mrs. Miles appeared at the 
railing. " Here, mamma, here, mamma ! " cried 
the swarthy chorus, clapping hands and laugh- 
ing merrily. This was too good a joke, and to 
tease Mrs. Miles we played their harmless bunco 
game until our pockets were empty. 

Less than six degrees north of the equator, 
Siassi is in the heart of the wildest Moro coun- 

80 



An Unofficial Attache 



try. The town itself is composed chiefly of 
bamboo huts with heavy roofs of thatch, and 
occupied by a motley population of Moros, 
Chinese, and degenerate Spanish. 

The military station here is important, as the 
wild tribes in the outlying districts are not pac- 
ified, and probably will remain savage and 
bloodthirsty until their eventual extermination. 
General Miles' reception here was probably the 
most primitive in the history of American 
military affairs since the early Indian wars. 
The principal business men of the town are 
Chinese, and they took upon themselves the 
duty of extending to the distinguished guest 
such a salutation and reception as should reflect 
credit upon the hospitality of the town. 

Disembarking from the ship's launch. General 
Miles, attended by a military escort from the 
local station, led the way up the main street 
of Siassi, by comparison with which the Mid- 
way Plaisance at the Columbian Exposition 
was sombre in color and quiet as a New Eng- 
land Sunday. On both sides of the line of 
march a throng of men, women, and children, 
representing at least four of the races of man- 
kind, pushed and struggled for positions of 
vantage. Gorgeous robes of yellow, red, pur- 
6 81 



An Unofficial Attache 



pie, green, and orange adorned the unwashed 
shoulders and bodies of Chinese and Malays. 
The slick skins of native men, deep brown and 
glossy, bared from the waist upward, added 
a savage quaintness to the scene. Moro women, 
with their babies strapped, papoose fashion, 
on their backs, elbowed their way among the 
crowds, neither expecting nor receiving more 
consideration than their less hampered neigh- 
bors. Here and there a group of swarthy 
Spaniards looked at the procession with eyes in 
which there was no friendliness, and two or 
three grizzled Mohammedan priests mingled 
in the host of their faithful followers. The 
din of tom-toms beaten in rhythmic measure by 
hospitable natives assailed our ears with deaf- 
ening noise, half thrilling and half ludicrous. 
The great salute of the day, however, was that 
prepared by the prosperous Chinese merchants, 
and which greeted us as we filed past their 
shops and stores in the business centre of the 
town. Clad in cadet jackets, gay with gold 
lace and buttons, trousers cut either on the 
pattern of pajamas or of riding breeches, but- 
toning close about the ankle and becoming 
loose from the knee upward, their heads 
adorned either with the Oriental fez or with 

82 



An Unofficial Attache 



gorgeous turbans of variegated colors, Moro 
dandies swaggered along the streets, their bare 
feet leaving broad imprints in the dusty ways. 
These native beaux represented the elite of 
Siassi, the old families not only of the town 
but of the countryside about. In the sashes 
about their waists flashed keen-edged bolos, or 
wrinkled creese blades, handed down from 
father to son for many generations, and prized 
as the most precious heirlooms. Supple canes, 
with jewelled hand-piece and metal ferule, or 
neat swagger sticks, slivered from the horn of 
the carabao and tipped at either end with cap 
of silver, gave an added air of jauntiness and 
style to these self-important individuals. 

Fire-crackers are said to be of earlier inven- 
tion than guns, and history affirms that the 
ancient Chinese employed them in the defence 
of the great wall of China to scare away the 
enemy. 

In the present instance, the "Heathen 
Chinee " used them in lieu of heavier artillery 
by way of friendly salute. Two rows of 
bright-robed Mongolians stood at the sides 
of the street, carrying long, slender poles of 
bamboo. As we passed between them the in- 
genious Orientals " presented arms " with these 



An Unofficial Attache 



bamboo rods, to the ends of which were attached 
huge bunches of fire-crackers which sputtered 
and popped and banged like a miniature Fourth 
of July. Not fifteen guns, but fifteen thousand 
Chinese fire-crackers sneezed an Oriental salute 
to the commander from the far-off land in the 
West, greatly to the delight of the populace and 
to the unconcealed amusement, admiration, and 
astonishment of the visitors. 

Siassi is the most primitive Philippine city 
we visited, and, to me at least, it was a revela- 
tion of crudeness and barbaric display. Color, 
color, color, on every side ! Bright turbans and 
Moro scarfs, beads and tinsel jewels, glittering 
blades of creeses and of bolos, arrows tipped 
with points of bone and weapons studded with 
sharks' teeth, — such were the articles most in 
evidence in shops and market as well as on 
the streets and among the ugly multitude. 
Here the vices of civilization seem to be long 
established, but the virtues, moral, intellectual, 
or industrial, have scarcely taken root. The 
religion of Mohammed and the Koran holds a 
tenacious grip on the people except where 
old superstitions, inherited through ages of 
Moro folk-lore, crowd out all forms of theology 
or demonology imported from other climes. 

84 




Market 




Moro 




e, Siassi 




I 



x:^ 



k 



Siassi 



An Unofficial Attache 



Naturally unattractive in feature and linea- 
ment, the natives add to the ugliness of their 
faces by the use of a narcotic irritant called the 
betel-nut. This innocent-looking nut seems to 
combine in its toothsome kernel all the evil 
properties of nicotine; opium, and alcohol, and 
its use keeps the uncivilized Filipino in a state 
of wild exhilaration, lapsing now and then 
into periods of voluptuous somnolence. Not 
only is the effect of the drug visible in the 
expression of the eyes, but its action on the 
teeth is such as to turn them black, while 
the lips become flushed with an unnatural 
crimson brilliance. 

The centre of interest at Siassi is the market 
place. Here throng the people to buy and sell, 
or, like the American Indians, to barter their 
wares. The swarthy fruit-merchant exchanges 
a goodly stock of cocoanuts with the woman 
who operates a hand-loom, for an ample cut of 
jusi. The fishmonger barters a fine red-snapper 
for a supply of betel-nut, and the bolo-man 
haggles with the pearl-fisher on the terms of 
an exchange of commodities. Naked urchins, 
boys and girls, run in and out among the stalls 
playing "I-spy'' and "Tag/' very much the 
same as children everywhere. The rivalry be- 

85 



An Unofficial Attache 



tween the Moro scarf-weaver and the jusi- 
maker is keen, and woe to the stranger who is 
so rash as to patronize the one to the neglect 
of the other. 

The principal attraction at the market place, 
however, is neither jusi nor plaid, cocoanut nor 
betel, fish nor pearl, nor jewelled blade. The 
passion for gaming draws men and women with 
irresistible force. Native gambling devices, 
unique and shrewd, coax the money of the 
unwary, while an eager crowd watches the 
throwing of the dice or the tossing of a coin. 
Bizarre, garish, dirty, eager, the rabble never 
weary of their games of chance, and the " shell 
game " is played with local and original 
variations. 

From Siassi we coasted swiftly to the city of 
Jolo, the capital of the island of the same name. 
This diminutive metropolis is much like the old 
district of Manila. Massive stone walls entirely 
surround the town, originally a Spanish strong- 
hold from which an unceasing warfare was 
waged against the wild Moro tribes in the 
jungle fastnesses. Governor after governor, 
general after general, conducted fruitless expe- 
ditions from Jolo into the heart of the lands of 

86 



An Unofficial Attache 



the savage bolo-men. Even Weyler, the Spanish 
generalissimo of Cuban trocha fame, gave up 
the hopeless game, and the Moros of Jolo-land 
have never acknowledged allegiance to masters 
other than their native chiefs or provincial 
sultans and datos. 

The sultan of Jolo occupies the ambiguous 
position of being at once a pensioner of the 
United States and an Oriental despot whose 
sway, among the tribes which have for gener- 
ations been the subjects of his royal family, is 
little less absolute than that of the Czar of 
Russia. 

After the capture of Manila, American vessels 
were sent to take possession of the various 
towns and colonies throughout the archipelago 
in the name of the United States. Most of these 
being under actual as well as nominal control of 
the Spanish, capitulated readily and came under 
American control without the shedding of 
blood or the loss of life on either side. The 
town of Jolo, having been abandoned by the 
Spanish, was controlled absolutely by the sultan 
of the district, who had a very considerable 
garrison of native troops stationed there with 
the avowed determination to give battle to 
Uncle Sam, destroy the city if necessary, to 

87 



An Unofficial AttacM 



prevent it from falling into the hands of the 
Americans, and to bind himself and his warriors 
in eternal enmity to the intruders. 

The position of the American commander 
was peculiar. A few moments' activity from 
the ship's battery would mean the destruction 
of the quaint old city nestling in mock security 
within the circle of its grim stone walls. The 
native garrison could be exterminated, possibly 
without the loss of an American soldier. But 
this was not war; this was no work for 
soldiers and Americans, but for butchers and 
murderers. 

Already was there a faction and a press at 
home crying out against " Imperialism," and a 
policy of wholesale plunder in the communi- 
ties which the shock of war had put into our 
power. 

Our mission was to preserve, not to destroy, 
whatever of civilization, prosperty, and virtue 
might be found in the Philippines, and to spread 
the influence of American ideas and American 
civilization with as little bloodshed as possible. 
To this end the friendship and allegiance of 
powerful local leaders was much more to be 
sought after than their lives. Following the 
precedent of paying to Spain a huge indemnity 

88 



An Unofficial Attache 



for the possessions we had taken from her 
through the fortunes of war, a certain annual 
pension was offered to the sultan of Jolo for 
the peaceful evacuation of the city, and the 
oath of allegiance to the United States. The 
shrewd potentate was not slow to close a 
bargain which any haggling on his part would 
probably have caused to miscarry. He with- 
drew his troops from the city, and retired to his 
castle in the jungle some miles from the coast, 
where he lives a life of Oriental ease and luxury, 
maintaining a great harem and an establish- 
ment of barbaric splendor which his ample 
pension provides. The army of retainers who 
do his bidding are bound to him in a system 
of feudal vassalage. How long he will be 
satisfied with this new-found opulence and 
peace is questionable. His gnrly majesty re- 
fused to come to greet the general of the 
United States army, though informed of our 
visit and invited to attend the reception at 
Jolo. The following is a newspaper clipping : 



89 



An Unofficial Attache 



SULTAN OF SULU NO LONGER A 
SUBJECT OF UNCLE SAM 

TAKES UP BESIDENCE IN SINGAPORE 

Scripps-McRae Press Association, 
Washington, Sept. 14, — 

Uncle Sam no longer counts among his subjects 
the sultan of Sulu. With his six wives, his retinue 
of slaves and the resplendent datos who make up 
his cabinet, he has removed to Singapore. Although 
young in years, he is a total physical wreck, and has 
but a short time to enjoy Uncle Sam's pension and 
the income derived from his pearl fisheries. 

The reason for his departure is said to be his 
weakening grasp upon the throne, due to the 
American invasion and to the fact that he has no 
male heir. He appreciated the situation, assisted no 
doubt by his own people, and so moved to the 
Straits Settlement. 

However, the city was spared the havoc of 
bombardment. Beautiful Jolo, a very dream 
city, unreal in its peaceful picturesqueness, 
rejoices in American occupation, and the wild 
Moro tribes about it have been subjugated and 
controlled for the first time in history. 

On the open space before the door of the 
90 



An Unofficial Attache 



house of the commanding officer of the local 
post, a band of wild men from the woods danced 
a war dance for the edification of General Miles 
and his party. A more savage rite I never 
saw. 

Naked, save for the loin clout, these dusky 
Indians of Jolo-land, their bodies adorned with a 
few trinkets, leap into the air, brandishing aloft 
their spears with points of sharpened bone. 
Then suddenly they crouch low, stealthily 
creeping toward each other, every eye keen 
and every muscle tense. "With a cry they 
jump to their feet, spears are left upon the 
ground, and in the sinewy right hand of 
every dusky warrior glistens a razor-edged 
bolo. The tom-toms raise a deafening discord, 
the knives flash close before the faces of the 
imagined foes, then, with a swift movement, 
they disappear. The noise of the savage tom- 
tom grows quicker. The lean bodies dash be- 
fore us in a mad whirl, brandishing aloft the 
war clubs, studded with sharks' teeth. The 
fierce rapidity of the dance is beginning to tell 
even on the hardy sons of the jungle, as at a 
sound from the tom-toms each club is cast to 
the ground, and spears again glisten in the air. 
The movement slackens, the old look of blood- 



91 



An Unofficial Attache 



thirsty eagerness grows more intense as, two 
by two, the band divides into groups, each 
man advancing toward his opponent until the 
keen points of bone seem to be almost ready to 
pierce the breast of his adversary. A clash 
from the tom-tom and a cry from the warriors ! 
The whole band is once more whirling and 
winding its mad flight about the ring until, 
panting and sweating, the savage warriors 
drop heavily upon the ground, exhausted. 

After our visit at Jolo, Malabang was the first 
stop of importance. From its strategic position 
on the coast near the centre of a hostile and 
aggressive host of Moro tribes, Malabang is 
of the utmost military importance. An army 
supply station is located here, and a con- 
siderable force of troops is kept constantly at 
this post. The town itself is intolerably hot 
and dry and dusty, uninteresting and disagree- 
able, and the soldiers and officers stationed here 
regard this assignment as an unmitigated bad 
fortune, — an evil to be endured because it 
cannot be cured. 

The American policy of " carrying the war 
into the enemy's country " has here been ap- 
plied to Moro warfare, and the results prove 

92 



An Unofficial Attache 



beyond a question that this method of subju- 
gating the savages is much more effective than 
the Spanish course of making occasional sallies 
out of a strongly entrenched position into the 
trackless jungle. From Malabang, the Ameri- 
can forces have built a fine military road through 
the heart of the country of the savages to the 
crest of the mountain which forms the mili- 
tary as well as the geographic centre of the 
island. Operations were in progress at the 
time of our visit to run another road from 
Iligan, on the opposite coast, to connect with 
this road at Lake Laguna on the summit of 
the mountain. 

At Malabang, horses were provided for such 
of the gentlemen of our party as had equestrian 
ambitions, and Doherty wagons furnished less 
strenuous means of transport for the prudent 
and knowing ones. Following the military 
road, with a guard a short distance in advance 
of us to provide against possible ambush or 
open attack from the fierce Malays, who were 
hereabouts in active warfare, we soon plunged 
into the depths of the tropical juugle. 

On either side of our pathway rose vast 
forests of rosewood, mahogany, ebony, cedar, 
eucalyptus, and giant palms of a dozen varieties. 

93 



An Unofficial Attache 



Dense about the lower parts of these rural trees, 
intertwining leaves and branches form a net- 
work through which even the brightest rays of 
the equatorial sun never penetrate. Flashing 
through the air, or on the outer branches 
of the trees, are myriads of birds of marvel- 
lous plumage glistening with all the colors of 
the spectrum. Parrots and paroquets scolded 
and screeched in ceaseless wrangling, and 
flaunted their unrivalled millinery. Here and 
there, inquisitive tribes of monkeys stopped 
their frolics among the cocoanuts and bananas 
to discuss our possible business in their domain. 
From the darkness of the distant ravines the 
cries of prowling carnivora echoed from rock 
and hill. 

But the perils which most beset this road are 
not the beasts of the jungle. At every turn 
in the tortuous course, a military camp with 
picket guard proclaims the foe to be a hu:man 
foe and ceaselessly vigilant in his bloody busi- 
ness. But the long arm of our Uncle Sam is 
extended from Malabang to Lake Laguna, and 
the highway is not easily beset. 

Of our party, General Miles, who is always 
in condition for any test of endurance, how- 
ever exciting, and his military aides were the 

94 



An Unofficial Attache 



only members whose enthusiasm for horseback 
riding did not become dampened by the climb 
of twenty-two miles along that wonderful mili- 
tary road. For my part, when we stopped for 
a change of mount, haK-way to our destination, 
I should have been most glad to have deserted 
the mounted squad for the Doherty wagons \ but 
one never likes to show a white feather — and 
the seats in the wagons were all occupied. 

Toward sunset we passed through the picket 
lines at Camp Yickers, on the shore of Lake 
Laguna, three thousand feet above the level of 
Malabang, which from here looks like a mere 
spot of white and red on the line where land 
and ocean blend. 

At Lake Laguna, old Mother Nature has 
decked the mountain crest with lavish splendor, 
and has tempered the tropical airs with cooling 
breezes, making the place delightful to all the 
senses. Here, for the only time in my life, I 
slept in a military camp in time of actual 
hostilities. 

Captain John J. Pershing, the hero of Bacca- 
lod, was here in command of some two thousand 
troops, among whom there was discernible none 
of the ennui and morbid discontent so generally 
prevalent with the soldiers in out-of-the-way 

95 



An Unofficial Attache 



stations where there is no activity and no ex- 
citement. For here the warfare was aggres- 
sive, the element of danger and the alertness 
due to the near presence of a watchful foe 
kept the men in high spirits and eager activity. 
Guard mount here was no mere form, but a 
stern necessity, and every drill meant practice 
for a contingency which any day might bring 
to pass. This night we were quartered in such 
style as the exigencies of martial regulations 
permitted. As I was waiting to be assigned 
to the hospitality of some officer's tent, a 
grizzled veteran wearing the insignia of a 
major approached me and introduced himself 
as a fellow-citizen from Cincinnati, Major Carr, 
the senior medical officer of that command. 
Though I had never had the pleasure of know- 
ing Major Carr at home, the circumstances 
under which we met at Camp Vickers made us 
old friends in a moment, and I quickly learned 
to appreciate the qualities which have made his 
career so eminently noteworthy. As the last 
echo of taps sounded from the distant bugle, I 
lay down upon a cot in Dr. Carr*s tent and soon 
fell asleep. How delightful it seemed to sleep 
in a place where the torrid heat of the tropics 
was moderated by a lofty altitude and the 

96 



An Unofficial Attache 



cooling breezes of the mountains. But my 
dream of sweet comfort was all too brief. 
Scarce had Morpheus clasped me firmly in 
his armSj when I began to shiver like a man 
in a chill. Although I wrapped about me 
every available blanket and coat that I could 
find, the cold night air penetrated to the very 
marrow of my bones, and my body would 
shake and goose-flesh in spite of all I could 
do. I tried a little faith cure, and endeavored 
to make myself believe it was all imagination, 
but my faith was not equal to the occasion. 
When, somewhere about two o'clock in the 
morning, my cot gave a little jump and then 
quivered nervously for some seconds, I was too 
sleepy to be greatly surprised. 

Bu.t the glory of the dawning day was am- 
plest recompense for a night of broken slumber. 
The earthquake which jarred the mountain 
camp called forth but passing comment from 
those who were more familiar with the eccen- 
tricities of this island. 

The call of bugle and the roll of drums 
awakened the sleeping camp and summoned 
the soldiers to the work of another day. 

Early in the forenoon the entire garrison of 
Camp Yickers was formed in order for the in- 
7 97 



An Unofficial Attache 



spection of the general. Not only were the 
perfunctory manoeuvres of horse and foot exe- 
cuted by the troops of cavalry and companies 
of infantry, but the field batteries and artillery 
squads went through their drills and gave dem- 
onstration of their skill at target practice. 

After inspection, the general, and such of his 
party as felt disposed to make the trip, went on 
a tour of observation among the various Moro 
strongholds which had, by persistent campaign- 
ing, been taken by the American soldiers. These 
fortresses are of the most primitive character, 
consisting of earthworks thrown up across some 
chasm or other place of natural advantage for 
defence. Heaps of brush and the dense growth 
of the jungle covered these embankments, effec- 
tively screening them from chance observation, 
as well as forming a wild trocha, increasing the 
difficulty of advance by an attacking party. It 
was in storming one of these frontier for- 
tresses that Lieutenant Yickers, a gallant young 
American, leading a dashing charge was slain, 
and from him the soldiers named their camp. 

Conducting our company a few hundred yards 
from the outposts of Camp Vickers, Captain 
Pershing led to a point on the shore of Lake 
Laguna. Here we peered through our field- 

98 



An Unofficial Attache 



glasses in the direction indicated by our famous 
host, and we saw, clear and distinct among the 
dense trees which covered the mountain side 
opposite, the red flag of war floating defiantly 
from a pole on a Moro fort, one of the most 
impregnable redoubts of the bolo-men. 

Pershing had been holding his forces in check 
for some time past, seeking to end the bloodshed 
which every clash of arms implies. His every 
energy had been bent to the peaceful subjuga- 
tion of the tribes which still remained on the 
war-path. Emissaries from the ranks of the 
Moro warriors who had previously surrendered 
to American arms were sent among the hostile 
tribes to point out to them the futility of fur- 
ther resistance and the wisdom of immediate 
cessation of hostilities. 

But the merciful overtures of Captain Persh- 
ing were rejected by the brown-skinned deni- 
zens of the forest, and about a week after our 
visit a renewed hostility on the part of the 
Moro tribes called forth another sally from 
the American soldiers, and another tribe of 
Moros was rounded up and overwhelmingly 
defeated. In this way, harsh as it is, the 
ascendency of America is being established 
from fortress to fortress and from coast to 

99 



L.cfC. 



An Unofficial Attache 



coast throughout the Philippines. The condition 
is analogous to that which once existed in our 
own land when Indian tribes plundered farm 
and village on our western frontier. The only 
possibility of extending the reign of law and 
order and of establishing civilization through- 
out the land lay in the subjugation or the 
extermination of the Indian. 

I can see no other possible solution of the 
problems in the Orient. 

Before we left Camp Yickers for our return 
to the ^^ Ingalls," which we could see riding at 
anchor in the distant harbor like a tiny toy 
ship, the soldiers assembled informally to 
bid farewell to their general. Nothing would 
suffice them but a speech. And a speech they 
had, a ringing, vigorous, hopeful address, en- 
couraging the boys to do full duty, to remember 
that they are always Americans, and that 
Americans across the Pacific at home are mind- 
ful of them. The praise General Miles accorded 
them and their officers was of that character 
so well understood and appreciated by the 
soldier, but which, to the uninitiated, appears 
to be of microscopic proportions. However, 
the three cheers and a tiger which followed 
us as we rode away for Malabang came from 

100 




General Miles at Camp Vickers 



An Unofficial Attache 



the hearty admiration and good-will which the 
boys cherish for Miles. They knew, and we 
who rode away with him knew, that the general 
was pleased with the soldierly conduct and 
bearing of the boys at Lake Lagnna. 

Ee turning along the military road we stopped 
to inspect every station which guards its sec- 
tion of the way. The garrisons here are not 
large, from fifty to one hundred men at each ; 
but the discipline maintained, and the pervad- 
ing air of business, reminded us continually that 
the soldier's work in this region is no vacation 
outing of a State militia. 

The course of the " Ingalls " from Malabang 
lay along the wooded shores, and never once 
did the steamer get out of sight of land until 
she hove to at Prang Prang, where the custom- 
ary review of troops was held. The smaller 
towns and posts in the Philippines are much 
alike, and there was but little incident or 
variety to distinguish them in our minds. 

The next important point in our course was 
Cottabato, a town of considerable military and 
commercial significance on the Eio Grande 
de Mindanao, several miles from the coast. We 
arrived at the mouth of this beautiful stream 
in the middle of the night, and cast anchor there 

101 



An Unofficial Attache 



to await the dawn before continuing our cruise 
inland. In the cool air of the early morning, 
our party left the '' Ingalls " and embarked in 
a tug sent out from the military headquarters 
at Cottabato to convey us over the shallow 
waters of the Rio Grande. 

No words of mine can do justice to a descrip- 
tion of the marvellous beauty of the vegetation 
which grows in rank luxuriance to the very 
water's edge. Here and there the forest glooms 
give way for ample stretches of low-growing 
busheSj ferns, and fruitful banana, while the 
slender stems of giant palms rise like senti- 
nels at intervals over the dreamy landscape. 
The majesty of wood and jungle ever challenges 
the wonder and admiration of the devotee of 
" God's first temples." 

As we drew in sight of Cottabato, picturesque 
and ancient, a salute of fifteen guns announced 
the arrival of the looked-for guest. But our 
stop was only momentary, and we continued our 
course up-stream, postponing our longer visit at 
Cottabato until our return, for we were now 
on the way to pay our respects to an indi- 
vidual of the utmost importance in this region 
of Mindanao. 

Thirty-five miles from the mouth of the river 
102 



An Unofficial Attache 



dwells Dato Piang, the patriarch and autocrat 
of all he surveys. Piang is a local ruler, now 
shrewdly acknowledging allegiance to Uncle 
Sam, but no less shrewdly exercising the 
prerogatives of legislative, judicial, and exec- 
utive branches of the local government. As a 
side line, merely by way of keeping busy, the 
wily old statesman has constituted himself a 
bureau of commerce and industry in the section 
over which his fate and his inheritance have 
called him to rule, and the monopoly he main- 
tains over the financial and religious resources 
of his realm would make certain ^^ captains of 
industry" and ^' trust promoters" of America, 
discover that they could learn the ABC 
of this profession from this benevolent old 
potentate. 

Piang is a hereditary ruler, and his subjects, 
mustering some six or seven thousand natives, 
look to him for law and authority. They work 
for him and do his bidding with a childlike 
docility and unquestioning obedience. Practi- 
cally all the money of the realm finds its way 
to the ample money-bags of his royal treasury, 
and natives look to Piang, the dato, for such 
supplies as their simple trade and barter fail 
to provide. 

103 



An Unofficial Attache 



As our launch approached the palace grounds, 
a thunderous salute from a dilapidated old 
battery of antiquated muzzle-loading cannon 
and mortars roared welcome to the honored 
guest. A moment later, from the wharf 
appeared a banca, or barge, propelled by ten 
boatmen. Herein, in royal state, rode Dato 
Piang, a wrinkled, swarthy, lean old man, his 
eyes keen and bright as a weazeFs, his teeth 
black as ebony from the constant use of the 
betel-nut. 

His costume was bizarre and fantastic. A 
suit of white cotton bedecked with a parti- 
colored sash, yellow leggings, tight-laced from 
his bare feet to the knees, his head adorned 
with a great turban of Oriental purple and 
bright green, such was the garb of this splen- 
did Dato Piang. 

However, '' ' T is distance still that lends 
enchantment." The glory of Piang lost half 
its glamour when we drew to close quarters. 
The royal garb had sad need of a visit to the 
wash-tub, and his excellency himself would 
have been vastly improved by a vigorous appli- 
cation of soap and water. 

Escorting our launch to his landing place, 
Piang extended to General Miles the hospital- 

104 



An Unofficial Attache 



ity of his palace and his domain, attaching 
himself with leech-like tenacity to the guest 
whom he wished particularly to honor and to 
cajole. 

Piang's palace is a rambling structure, per- 
haps some two hundred feet square, and 
combining, in complacent disregard of all laws 
of art and science, the most heterogeneous 
and diverse elements of architecture. Sur- 
rounded by a massive stone wall, the abode of 
the dato is guarded by a sort of praetorian 
cohort of half-civilized Moro warriors. The 
fantastic garrison seemed to be in perfect 
keeping with the royal artillery pieces which 
are mounted at intervals along the stockade. 
In a separate building within this outer wall 
dwells the bearded Mohammedan sheik who, 
in his austere personage, combines the attributes 
of Lord High Chancellor and Prime Minister of 
the Imperial Piang and of spiritual and relig- 
ious head of the household. 

In number of members the family of Dato 
Piang rivals some of the courts of European 
monarchs, no less than one hundred and fifty 
people dwelling within the confines of the 
palace, and many more being employed there 
in the various enterprises conducted on the 

105 



An Unofficial Attache 



premises and under the watchfal supervision 
of dato and sheik. 

A rattle-trap structure, a dislocated wing of 
the palace, forms the harem. Jealously guarded 
from prying eyes of strangers, the curiosity 
native to woman-kind overcame all the precau- 
tions with which the custom of ages had screened 
the beauties of the harem. Peering out from 
behind half-open doors and screens, or even 
venturing into the open court-yard to look upon 
the wonderful visitors from the far-ofl: lands, 
the queens of beauty forgot the dictates of 
prudence and discretion, and disclosed to the 
unholy gaze of the stranger the mysteries in- 
tended only for the eyes of the sovereign Dato 
Piang. 

Alas, for the disillusionment ! Instead of 
voluptuous figures, robed in silk and bedecked 
with jewels which pale beside the brilliant 
lustre of beautiful eyes, we beheld a group of 
slatternly females, unkempt and dirty, their 
single garment of coarse homespun hanging 
loose and ungirt. The exact number of con- 
jugal adjuncts maintained by Piang I was 
unable to ascertain, but from the small army 
of little Piangs who romped about the grounds 
and at the landing place, I inferred that 

106 



An Unofficial Attache 



tliey were not few. Piang evidently takes his 
domestic blessings in allopathic doses. 

Two profitable industries, cloth and mat 
making, and the manufacture of fine creeses 
and bolos, are conducted on the premises. The 
former is carried on by women who, seated 
on the floor, with feet straight out in front of 
them, throw the noisy shuttles between the 
close-set strands of hempen woof, and shift 
the clumsy harness of the ungraceful looms. 

As souvenirs of our visit to his forges, Piang 
presented every member of our party with a 
wavy-bladed creese, tempered and embossed in 
his own armory and made by the hands of his 
own armorers. 

The kingly state of Dato Piang attains to 
its most imposing aspect in the imperial throne- 
room. This lofty apartment cheaply mimics 
the beauty of Alhambra Halls, its massive 
columns and arched dome furnishing an effec- 
tive setting for the heavily draped divan 
whereon the great man sits on occasions of 
state, and whereon he sleeps at night, sur- 
rounded by his serfs and private guards. 
Piled high about the room are sacks and 
chests carefully sealed, and guarded with un- 
ceasing vigilance. By one of the innumerable 

107 



An Unofficial Attache 



servants who attended us during our visit I 
was told that these sacks contained the dato's 
treasury, — a sum, an idea of the vastness of 
which the native endeavored to convey to me 
by eloquent gestures and wonder-wide eyes. 

My own experience with Philippine currency 
had taught me something of the bulk of coin 
required to represent the minutest actual value, 
as values are measured among the civilized 
nations. To carry one hundred dollars in legal 
tender of the Moro tribes would tax the bur- 
den-bearing ability of a strong man. 

Piang is decidedly a radical in politics, 
aggressive, shrewd, quick to see his opportu- 
nities and to embrace them. While perhaps 
he foresees the end of the system of govern- 
ment of which he is such an important part, 
and the eventful downfall of the mediasval 
feudalism which makes possible his squalid 
royalty, Dato Piang is making hay while the 
sun shines. He has formed relations of the 
most friendly character with the American 
officers whose duties have brought them into 
his district, and by them the wily old Moro is 
credited with keeping his eyes open and getting 
into line with the course of progress. 

Piang has two great ambitions. The first 
108 



An Unofficial Attache 



is to own a steam launch enabling him to 
abandon his picturesque but antiquated barge. 
The second is to visit America, the mysterious, 
far-away land which produces such wonderful 
men, — men who fight like devils, and then lay 
down their guns to take up spades and axes, 
building roads and villages as they go, and 
sending teachers to open schools in every 
native town. 

The Rio Grande de Mindanao, from the 
palace of Piang to Cottabato, presents to 
the stranger, gliding silently over its placid 
surface, a series of dissolving views which 
charm the eye and fascinate the imagination. 
Every bend in the river's course conceals a 
vista of water, sky, and forest, only to reveal 
new glimpses of the infinite variety of nature's 
manifestations. Now and again great flocks 
of sea-birds float gracefully and swiftly across 
the sky, or settle, with noisy clamor, on some 
forest tree. 

One such incident occurred on the Sunday 
morning as we sped toward Cottabato. A 
flock of white herons, thousands, nay, tens of 
thousands in number, dropped from the vast- 
ness of the sky and settled on a huge tree which 
stood on the river's bank, its enormous branches 

109 » 



An Unofficial Attache 



extending far out over the shady waters. The 
effect of this sudden apparition was a marvel- 
lous and instantaneous transformation in the 
whole aspect of the scene. Where a moment 
before we had looked upon the stately grandeur 
of the giant of the forest, dark and clearly 
outlined against its background of low- 
growing jungle and cloud-veiled sky, we be- 
held, with unspeakable astonishment and with 
wonder amounting almost to awe, a huge dome 
of snowy whiteness, solid and compact, of 
almost geometric symmetry, its entire surface 
glinting and flickering in the sunlight So 
sudden had been the marvellous change, and so 
completely had the myriad of white herons 
overwhelmed the tree, that even its titanic 
limbs were bent beneath the weight, all the 
wild grace of nature's outlines being pressed 
into a seeming solid cone, the dark foliage of 
the tree blending beautifully with the dazzling 
plumage of the birds. For a time we gazed in 
mute wonder at this phenomenon. Then some 
one in the stern of our boat fired a shot into 
the air. With a noise like the breaking of a 
tornado, the feathery tribe rose in a mass, 
moving like one great living organism, and 
gradually spreading out like a cloud as the 

110 



An Unofficial Attache 



flock unfolded its close-formed ranks in tlie 
free air of the sky. The giant tree which had 
bent his back and braced his limbs to sustain 
the heavy burden which had come thus sud- 
denly upon him, lifted his head and stretched 
his sinewy limbs like a powerful man rejoicing 
in the proven prowess of his body. 

At Cottabato another biological phenome- 
non, equalling if not surpassing in beauty that 
of the white heron tree, challenged our wonder 
and hypnotized our senses. After the military 
inspections had been completed, the commanding 
officer at the post invited the general and his 
retinue to refreshment at the official head- 
quarters, formerly the residence of the Spanish 
governors. We lingered long about the table, 
which was spread with viands and delicacies of 
American production, as well as of Philippine 
growth. When at length we proposed to take 
our departure, night had stolen upon the land- 
scape, studding the sky with stars and brood- 
ing over the world with mystic, dreamy beauty. 
The trees and leafy shrubs hummed aloud with 
the discordant harmonies of the million unseen 
insects. On the open lawn, perhaps one hun- 
dred feet from the balcony, gloomed the dark 
bulk of a shapely evergreen, standing some 

111 



An Unofficial Attache 



thirty feet in height. As we looked, this tree 
burst suddenly upon our sight, glowing with a 
phosphorescent flicker, as of ten thousand tiny 
electric bulbs in frosted opalescent globes. So 
brilliant was the illumination that every twig 
and every filigree outline of the tree was 
clearly visible, and the soft radiance cast a 
halo against the sky and a golden dew upon the 
ground. The tree glowed for a second only, 
and then was dark again. Again the wonder- 
ful illumination started once more throughout 
the branches of the tree, only to be once more 
extinguished. From at first doubting the evi- 
dence of our eyes, we began to suspect that a 
beautiful electrical display had been arranged 
for our entertainment. This, however, was a 
theory not long to be held. The miracles of 
nature excel the works of man. The tree con- 
tinued to pulsate with throbbing heartbeats of 
light, to breathe deep draughts of unconsuming 
fire. 

Had a voice oracular spoken from that burn- 
ing bush, our wonderment could have been 
no greater, nor our silence more reverently 
enthralled. 

The phenomenon which thus charmed our 
incredulous senses is one not uncommon in 

112 



An Unofficial Attache 



the Eastern islands, and is produced by the 
simultaneous and rhythmic action of a myriad 
of luciferous insects not unlike the jQrefly or 
"lightning bug" so common among our Ohio 
hills and fields in the balmy nights of early 
summer. At certain seasons these beetles hold 
high festival in the Oriental tropics, swarming 
much after the manner of honey-bees, when 
they form themselves into a solid mass, attach- 
ing themselves to the limb or the trunk of a 
tree. An uncounted host of these fireflies, 
moving over the entire surface of the ever- 
green, and flashing their candles in perfect 
unison, produced the strange and beautiful 
illusion, — a torchlight carnival of fairyland. 

On this beautiful Sunday morning, as we 
sped with the current of the Rio Grande, we 
caught a few fleeting glimpses of the life at the 
common trysting places, at the river's brink 
where long-established custom has decreed that 
rural markets shall be held at stated intervals. 
Here were tied up to convenient tree-trunks little 
fleets of bancas covered with crude awnings or 
canopies of rushes or coarse mattings. The 
boatmen herein displayed their wares, garden 
truck and poultry, choice fruit, betel-nuts, home- 
spun of homely weave, knives and implements 
8 113 



An Unofficial Attache 



of war or peace, mats and peaked headgear. 
From the country round about flocked the 
peasantry, some afoot and some astride their 
lank and sinewy ponies. Here and there a 
swarthy farmer might be seen urging his 
clumsy carabao, while wife and little ones 
peeked out from the quilted cart-cover of 
bamboo shreds. Here barter is the common 
form of exchange, though some of the bulky 
currency of Mindanao passes in payment for 
a stock of provisions or a bolt of jusi cloth. 

Through such scenes as these, and with a 
store of delightful memories, we steamed down 
the Eio Grande and back to the " Ingalls," 
which lay at anchor at the river's mouth. 

That night I got another drenching from a 
sudden downpour of rain as I lay sleeping on 
the uncovered steps of the transport, our course 
headed for Zamboanga. 

Old and battle-scarred, the grim Spanish for- 
tress frowns defiance at the approaching vessel, 
but the hospitality which now dwells within 
the town, garrisoned by American soldiers, pro- 
claims the visage of the fortress to be a liar 
and a fraud. Zamboanga, the fourth city of 
the Philippines in size, is a cheerful place, pros- 
perous and contented, with ample park or prado, 

114 



An Unofficial Attache 



and not lacking in clubs and other places of 
social resort and friendly intercourse. 

The barracks here were formerly occupied by 
the Spanish garrison, and the headquarters of 
General Sumner, the commanding officer at 
the time of our visit, long housed the families 
of Spanish governors. Here we passed a de- 
lightful day in feasting and sight-seeing and 
meeting pleasant army people, while on the 
grassy court a military band filled the air with 
sweet music. 

Scudding along the shallow waters, within 
easy sight of shore, we stopped at a number of 
military stations only so long as was necessary 
for the official duties of General Miles, and at 
many of these points our brief stay was ample to 
satisfy the idle curiosity of the camp-followers. 

Illgan, in Mindanao, across the island from 
Malabang, was one such squalid village, interest- 
ing only because it is a military post and the 
terminal of the military road which is to con- 
nect Camp Yickers on Lake Laguna with both 
shores of the island. Far different was the 
aspect of Cebu, the second city of the archi- 
pelago, the capital of the island of the same 
name. Here our vessel steamed in deep water 
to the very dock, where a concourse of people 

115 



An Unofficial Attache 



awaited her arrival and greeted her landing 
with lusty cheers and waving flags. The escort 
of honor which conducted the wayfarers from 
the wharf to the citadel was imposing, and the 
atmosphere of the streets and marts was that 
of a thriving European town rather than the 
enervating indolence of a Malay village, of the 
latter of which we had seen so much. A United 
States court holds sessions here, and here also 
centres the spirit of the " IrreconcilahlesJ' Cebu 
is more than a native settlement; it is a 
Spanish city, seasoned and tempered in the 
years of Spanish custom. The dominant ele- 
ment of the population is intelligent and 
capable of self-government, and therefore rest- 
less and ill at ease under the yoke, however 
light, of a foreign master. Were all the Phil- 
ippines composed of such places as Cebu, Iloilo, 
and Manila, the protection of a strong foster- 
parent would be necessary only as a bulwark 
against foreign aggression. But the vast popu- 
lace of the archipelago could never be held 
together for a day by the weak hands of a 
local state government struggling for existence 
itself. 

Cebu is the headquarters for the hemp indus- 
try of the islands, and the huge hemp presses 

116 



An Unofficial Attache 



and baling machines in the local factories and 
warehouses clank with the noise of active 
business, — a sound like music to the ears of 
an American. 

On the evening of our visit at Cebu, a public 
reception and musicale was tendered General 
and Mrs. Miles in the parlors of the Filipino 
Club. The occasion was memorable, and every 
possible precaution was taken to prevent any 
impression of disloyalty to American sov- 
ereignty. During the course of the evening, 
some of the speakers threw out very broad 
hints that an expression of General Miles' opin- 
ions on the subject of the Philippines, and the 
probable policy of the American government in 
regard to them, would be very acceptable. But 
the veteran soldier is a diplomat as well as 
a warrior, and in his address to the people, 
abounding in congratulations, hopeful proph- 
ecies, and grateful recognition of their hospi- 
tality, he deftly avoided any remark which could, 
by any interpretation, be assumed to have a 
political or an official significance. 

We spent only one day at Cebu, and after the 
reception all our party went directly to the 
" Ingalls.'' We sailed during the night, and con- 
tinued the cruise northward. 

117 



An Unofficial Attache 



As we approaclied the northern islands, the 
tortuous course became narrower and more dan- 
gerous, and at the entrance of San Juanica 
Strait, we were obliged to desert the rather 
light-draught "Ingalls" for a tiny vessel sent 
from military headquarters at Tacloban to con- 
vey us thither. This little boat was called 
by the euphonious title " Sam Shui," which, 
in English, means cold water. 

Tacloban, on the island of Leyte, is interesting 
because of its unique character, the finest ex- 
ample of a Nipa hut town I had seen thus far 
on the trip, and its importance as the military 
headquarters for the districts of Leyte and 
Samar, which are separated only by the narrow 
channel of the strait. The "Bungalow," situ- 
ated in the outskirts of Tacloban, the famous 
official residence of General Jacob Smith — 
" Hell-roaring Jake " — during his campaign, 
is the most remarkable object of interest in 
Tacloban, being the most elaborate example of 
bamboo construction in the Philippines. This 
building is an enormous rambling affair, three 
or more stories in height, and of exceedingly 
intricate design. So seductive was the enter- 
tainment provided for us at the Bungalow 
that our departure thence was delayed until 

118 



An Unofficial Attache 



late at night. Meantime we enjoyed in fnll 
measure tlie generous feast wliich was spread 
in honor of General Miles by the officers of 
the local post. 

Turn and turn about^ every member of our 
party was called upon for a toast and a sen- 
timent, and whatever was lacking of individual 
eloquence was amply made up by the badinage 
and banter of his fellows. I have often noticed 
that the man whose wit forsakes him absolutely, 
and whose tongue becomes paralyzed whenever 
he is called upon to stand up and make a 
speech, is sure to be a very genius at helping 
another post-prandial orator with audible sug- 
gestions and prompting, the humor of which 
cannot fail to penetrate to every corner of 
the room. Being the victim on this occasion, 
I make the foregoing observation as a defence, 
not as an excuse for failure to say something 
worthy of the occasion. 

When the moon shone with sufficient bright- 
ness to enable our pilot to direct his course, a 
dangerous one requiring the greatest care, 
we re-embarked and the " Sam Shui " crept cau- 
tiously back to the " Ingalls," which was await- 
ing us at the entrance of the strait, fifteen miles 
distant. 

119 



An Unofficial Attache 



We arrived at Laguan, an island of Samar, 
about midnight the day following in a heavy 
storm. Almost all passengers were miserably 
seasick, and when at last daylight dawned, it 
revealed as sallow, hollow-eyed, and miserable a 
party as ever trod the deck of an army trans- 
port. At six o'clock we went ashore, where we 
were welcomed, not only by the formal line of 
soldiers, but by a cohort of another kind. 

Drawn up in double row along the landing 
place was a throng of some two hundred native 
children from the school which the American 
Commission has instituted in Laguan. Every 
child carried a white flag, and the fluttering of 
these peaceful emblems in the hands of the 
happy little folk was a greeting and a welcome 
not easily to be forgotten and full of "the 
promise and potency" of better things than 
the eternal clash of arms in every Philippine 
town. As we passed through this guard of 
honor, a cheerful chorus of childish voices rose 
in well-trained unison : " Welcome, welcome. 
General Miles, welcome, welcome, General 
Miles." 

This little incident remains in my memory 
as one of the pleasantest episodes of our Philip- 
pine trip, and I shall remember Laguan as the 

120 



An Unofficial Attache 



place where we were greeted by the chorus of 
school-children long after all definite recollection 
of the visible features of this dilapidated Nipa 
town have passed from my mind. 

After leaving Laguan, where we spent only 
a few hours, we cruised along the coast, bound 
for Legaspi on the island of Luzon. 

That afternoon, at about two o'clock, the 
^^ Ingalls," which was running at a moderate 
speed, suddenly gave a violent leap, then seemed 
to fall back, quivering in every timber. A 
moment later we realized that we had run 
aground, and that we were high and dry on 
one of those hidden coral reefs which render 
the approach to the harbor of Legaspi so peri- 
lous. Upon first examination it appeared that 
our position was most grave, and that the only 
possible salvation for the transport would be in 
the immediate assistance of tugs and lighters. 
To our vast relief, however, we soon learned 
that the tide was at half-ebb, and that the re- 
turning tide would probably enable the vessel 
to float herself by the aid of her own ma- 
chinery. This proved to be the case, and, after 
several hours' delay, the "Ingalls" resumed her 
course unaided. Meanwhile, we made our visit 
to Legaspi, going ashore in the ship's launch. 

121 



An Unofficial Attache 



This town^ until recently the fourth city of 
the archipelago in size and importance, is a 
great centre for the hemp, sugar, rice, and 
tobacco interests, and its wonderful though 
dangerous harbor, penetrating to the very 
heart of the business section of the city, was 
constantly thronged with ships. 

The recent insurrection, led by one of the 
most unprincipled scoundrels who ever received 
amnesty from a too lenient federal government 
cost Legaspi its commerical prestige and its 
metropolitan dignity. 

General Pana, a Chinese Mestizo, or half 
Chinese, half Filipino, caused the destruction of 
the major portion of the city in order to prevent 
the Americans from occupying the town. The 
place is now practically ruined, and a small de- 
tachment of United States soldiers, possibly fifty 
men, are now stationed at the military post, 
doing guard duty over the wreck of a once 
prosperous city. 

The beautiful suburban village of Albay, built 
in the time of the Spanish occupation, is about 
three miles from Legaspi. The oyster-shell 
road leading to this place, the beautiful scenery 
on both sides, and a living volcano in constant 
view, the picturesque Nipa huts, the numerous 

122 



An Unofficial Attache 



carabao working in the fields and pulling 
vehicles, gave me one of the most delightful of 
all my experiences in the Philippines. We 
visited at this village, occupying very high 
ground, a monastery which is one of the most 
famous in the Orient, and which was the scene 
of a lively fusilade at the time of the revo- 
lution, between the people who opposed the 
destruction of the place and the followers of 
General Pana. It is purposed to make a per- 
manent military post at this place. 

From Lagaspi certain enterprising newspaper 
correspondents cabled to New York, via Manila, 
a harrowing tale of the wreck of the "Ingalls" on 
a coral reef, and the probable loss of all passen- 
gers and crew. As our friends were reading 
this glowing report in their morning papers at 
home, we were speeding away toward Pasacoa, 
Luzon, the last objective point on our cruise be- 
fore our return to Manila, never dreaming of 
the awful fate which the Associated Press was 
reporting in " sensational extras " in the streets 
of New York. 

The little village of Pasacoa on the island 
of Luzon is so diminutive as to be scarcely 
worthy the name of a town. So shallow is 
the water here that the ^' Ingalls " was obhged 



An Unofficial Attache 



to cast anchor several miles from shore^ and 
even the small boats which conveyed us land- 
ward became grounded some himdreds of feet 
from the water's edge. Our landing was there- 
fore made under the most awkward circum- 
stances, as it was effected in a manner of 
primitive crudeness. A stoical old beast of 
burden, mule or horse, I cannot be certain 
which, was driven out in the shallow water to 
our boat, and one by one we took turns astride 
his bony back, coming thus ashore. While 
some of our party were indulging in this doubt- 
ful sport, an old Doherty, the only wagon 
which the town afforded, conveyed the general 
ashore in a manner a trifle less spectacular 
but not particularly more comfortable. When 
at last we stood high and dry on the sandy 
beach, surrounded by the populace of the vil- 
lage and the neighboring country, we found 
ourselves, for the first time in our entire tour 
of the Philippine military stations, evidently 
unexpected, and unprovided with military es- 
cort. The news of our intended visit had not 
yet been received at the post of Nueva Carre- 
ras, fifteen miles distant, and our arrival was 
premature. The telephone which connects the 
station with the coast town was soon put into 

124 



An Unofficial Attache 



active service, and the news of our arrival made 
known to the garrison. Then we learned that 
the recent storms had destroyed the bridges, 
and had rendered the roadway from Pasacoa 
impassable for horses. It would therefore be 
impossible for our party to make the trip by 
any means other than sedan-chairs borne on 
the stalwart shoulders of sure-footed native 
carriers. 

This news filled the hearts of the villagers 
with unconcealed delight, affording promise of 
a day of lucrative employment for a large pro- 
portion of the male element of the population 
of Pasacoa. In a trice there appeared half a 
score of these picturesque conveyances, swing- 
ing free on their long flexible handles between 
the human horses who beanied in gleeful antici- 
pation of the job before them. 

This was, for most of us, the first sight 
of a sedan-chair as an object of actual utility. 
And here too, for the only time in my acquaint- 
ance with General Miles, did I see that resolute 
soldier abandon, uncompleted, an enterprise 
upon which he had determined. 

In vain did the native chairmen beg and 
implore him for the honor of being permitted 
to carry his excellency in their pendant cars. 

125 



An Unofficial Attache 



General Miles refused to permit himself to be 
carried on the shoulders of a fellow-man. 
That element in his moral make-up which has 
been so many times the cause of his being mis- 
interpreted, that inflexible resoluteness which 
makes it impossible for the man to make com- 
promise with what is abhorrent to his ethi- 
cal sense, — reasonable or unreasonable, — 
that attribute of Miles the man asserted itself 
with impregnable steadfastness. "I should 
be ashamed to look a fellow-man in the face 
were I to permit myself to use him first as 
a beast of burden.'* Such was the general's 
ultimatum, and to it he stood. Our trip to 
the post was abandoned, and we returned 
to the "Ingalls," leaving a disappointed and 
mystified throng of natives on the beach, 
wondering why General Miles would not give 
their men the privilege of a good day's 
work. 

The episode impressed me strongly as throw- 
ing a side-light on the character of General 
Miles, and illuminating certain phases of his 
public career and official actions which in an- 
other man would be inexplicable. Miles is 
sometimes open to the charge of " standing so 
straight that he leans backward," and many 

126 



An Unofficial Attache 



of the enemies that he has made for himself 
have been made by this same moral earnest- 
ness misunderstood. 

Later, in our travels in China, where the 
sedan-chair is the universal mode of convey- 
ance, and where to employ a beast for any work 
which a man could perform, thus robbing labor 
of its right to live, would be a crime against the 
laws of the land. General Miles unbent from his 
stand at Pasacoa. But I never saw him enter 
a chair without a look of ill-concealed revulsion 
and self-humiliation. 

The journey from Pasacoa to Manila was ac- 
complished in a night, and at half-past nine, on 
the morning of November 24th, we anchored 
again in Manila harbor. After the quarantine 
authorities had pronounced us to be sound and 
free from taint of any sickness worse than that 
of the sea, we disembarked, and our party again 
divided, each member going whither he would 
or where his hospitable friends decreed. From 
this time until the end of our visit I was the 
guest of Governor and Mrs. Taft at the palace 
of the Malacannan. 

Of all the public functions held in honor of 
General Miles and Mrs. Miles, none excelled the 
reception at the Army and Navy Club at Manila 

127 



An Unofficial Attache 



on the evening of November 25th. The illu- 
mination of the buildings and court, the orches- 
tral concert, the dinner, the dancing, and the 
fraternal good-will which pervaded all, rendered 
the occasion more delightful than formal, more 
personal than official. 

By proclamation of the governor, the last 
Thursday of November was made a holiday of 
Thanksgiving, and all Manila regaled itself 
with turkey dinners and a wholesale feasting, 
very much the same as we do in the States. 
The race-track furnished a substitute for inter- 
collegiate football games, and the day was alto- 
gether delightful. In the morning all church 
denominations were invited to take part in the 
union services in the Pentecost Tabernacle, a 
great public hall. The services were entirely non- 
sectarian, and the congregational singing of old 
and familiar hymns was one of the most prom- 
inent features of this meeting. Ministers rep- 
resenting the Episcopal Church, the Methodist, 
and the Baptist were present on the platform and 
spoke briefly to the congregation, as did Aglipay 
the founder of the proposed Philippine Catholic 
Church. 

In the evening Major and Mrs. Allen gave 
an old-fashioned American dinner-party at the 

128 




3 
C/2 



O 



a, 
O 



An Unofficial Attache 



Bungalow, where we toasted our country and 
our friends across the sea. 

The twenty-ninth of November was busy 
with preparations for our final departure from 
the Philippines. From early morning till even- 
ing we were hurrying about making purchases 
and attending to the arrangements for our 
baggage and bidding farewell to friends. This 
evening Governor and Mrs. Taft gave a beauti- 
ful dinner at the Malacannan Palace in honor 
of the commander of the German warship 
" Hertha " at anchor in the bay. 

Before midnight, we bade good-bye to Gover- 
nor and Mrs. Taft, and hurried to meet General 
and Mrs. Miles at Estada Major, where we 
took the steam launch to the " Ingalls," wait- 
ing our arrival in the harbor. 

Here we were greeted with a ^^real sur- 
prise party." A crowd of the younger officers 
stationed at Manila, with many ladies, had 
taken possession of the decks. We danced, 
sang, and made merry until the ^^ wee sma' 
hours." After our last guests had departed, 
we heard them singing farewell from the small 
boats as the " Ingalls " weighed anchor and 
headed for Subig Bay. 

The terrific havoc wrought by the guns of 
9 129 



An Unofficial Attache 



the " Cliarleston " at Subig Bay is not to be ob- 
literated in a day, and at the time of our visit 
the place bore the aspect of desolation and ruin. 
The steel mills and armory upon which the 
Spanish forces were so dependent for munitions 
of war furnished the principal target for the 
American guns, and their fate was little less 
than complete annihilation. 

The "Ingalls*' was never designed as an 
ocean-liner destined for service on the open seas. 
Nor was the Chinese Sea designed by nature as 
a pleasant cruising ground for light-built yacht- 
like vessels. My recollections of the trip from 
Subig Bay to Hong-Kong are not to be enjoyed 
with keen relish. The sea alternated between 
spells of choppy, rough, and squally ill-temper 
and nauseating rolls and undulations in which 
there was no poetry and much discomfort. 
The " Ingalls " was game, though ill-suited to 
the task before her, and she forged steadily 
ahead through bad seas, and most of the 
time herself a dripping, drenched, and miserable 
spectacle. The decks were, of course, unten- 
able, and life within the confines of the cabin, 
ineffectually sealed against the encroachments 
of the ocean, was far from pleasant. Few of 
our members escaped the agonies of seasick- 

130 



An Unofficial Attache 



ness, aggravated by the disgusting condition 
of being perpetually drenched by the brine 
which forced its way into the very cabin. In 
this manner we came across the Chinese Sea, 
and the second of December we hove to at 
Hong-Kong. 



131 



An Unofficial Attache 



HONG-KONG 

THE spectacle wliicli greets the sea- 
weary traveller entering the port of 
Hong-Kong is marvellous. 
The greatness of Britain and the genius of 
the Anglo-Saxon are nowhere in the world 
more remarkably exemplified than here in the 
London of the Orient. Hong-Kong presents 
the aspect of a great European city set down 
in the ancient land of the Mongolians. The 
harbor is thronged with merchant vessels from 
all parts of the civilized world, and cruisers 
from the navies of half a dozen nations flaunt 
their national banners to the wind. The town 
itself is noisy with the hurrying feet of busy 
thousands, and it echoes with voices speaking 
a score of different dialects. Either Sikhs or 
Bengals, British East Indians, enlisted soldiers in 
the British army, do police duty in native imi- 
forms of their old campaigns ; along the asphalt 
streets sped the jinrikisha men dragging their 
fares, with nimble skill and despatch, and 

13^ 



An Unofficial Attache 



dodging deftly among the sedan-cliairs which 
share with them here a monopoly of the 
common-carriers industry. Here an imposing 
retinue of gorgeous-liveried servants have a 
sedan-chair bearing a crest and coronet, and 
the rabble gave way for this scion of the 
aristocracy. Yonder jinrikisha which spins 
along at such a rapid rate, propelled by a 
"pusher" behind as well as the "puller" in 
front, conveys a noted surgeon on an emer- 
gency call to the hospital, the short, sharp 
cry of his first runner clearing a path through 
the crowd of slower-moving passengers upon 
the streets. 

At the entrance to every hotel and public 
place, long rows of jinrikishas and sedan-chairs 
stand in wait for the passengers, while their 
operators assail every pedestrian with clamor- 
ous bids for patronage. So steep are the 
streets of Hong-Kong that horses and other 
quadrupeds of burden are nowhere in use, 
the sinews and brawn of human beings furnish- 
ing the motive power for all conveyances. 

The hotel at which we stopped stands almost 
directly across the street from the landing place, 
and in easy access of the principal points of 
interest. The service here was fairly good, and 

133 



An Unofficial Attache 



our comfort was as complete as it could have 
been in the usual European or American hotel. 

Shortly after our arrival at Hong-Kong, the 
secretary of Sir Alfred Blake, the governor of 
the colony, called upon General and Mrs. Miles 
at the hotel, and invited our party to " tiffin " 
or midday luncheon at the governor's residence, 
an invitation which we were most glad to 
accept. 

The state in which Governor Blake was con- 
veyed through the streets of Hong-Kong was 
no less splendid than picturesque. His open 
chair was of the most exquisite manufacture, 
royal in its elegance. Between the handles, 
before and aft, a quartette of Chinese bearers, 
huge, powerful giants, resplendent in gorgeous 
liveries and moving in perfect unison, ambled 
smoothly and swiftly, while every other vehicle 
gave the right of way to the governor's con- 
veyance, as we in America make way for a fire- 
engine. 

The trip to Governor Blake's tiffin gave 
me my first experience with the sedan-chair as 
a means of conveyance. As I took my seat I 
was unable to deny to myself certain qualms of 
conscience at the idea of allowing myself, and 
I am not a featherweight, to be carried by two 

134 



An Unofficial Attache 



men, neither of whom appeared to be of physi- 
cal proportions at all commensurate with my 
own. But when I saw how easily their spare, 
sinewy limbs straightened themselves to their 
task, and how lightly they trotted off, bearing 
me like a baby in a baby-jumper, I gave myself 
over completely to the enjoyment of the novel 
sensation. 

Along the Queen's Road we swung, where 
the shops are gay and beautiful with the 
products of the Orient, articles of bronze and 
mosaic, of lace and tapestry and silk. The 
sandals of our Oriental steeds patted rhythmi- 
cally on the hard pavements, the muscles of their 
lean legs working like a series of tough leather 
thongs. We passed within a stone's throw of 
the inclined plane railroad which runs from 
the lower town to the top of the mountain, the 
crest of which is the fashionable residence dis- 
trict and most comfortable place to live, as it 
is cooler in summer, along the sides of which 
the city struggles upward, thinning as it rises 
higher, like the forests on the sides of the huge 
cliffs of the Alps or Sierras. But our chairmen 
kept to the winding road, steep and precipitous, 
which creeps serpent-like up to the mountain 
slope. And thus we came to the residence of 

135 



An Unofficial Attache 



Governor Blake, a veritable Italian villa, nest- 
ling on the side of the mountain and overlook- 
ing the most magnificent harbor-view in all 
the world. Spreading out before us like a 
vast panorama lay the harbor of Hong-Kong, 
sheltering a myriad of ships which rode lazily 
at anchor or moved, swan-like, in and out 
the bay. Nearer, at our feet, the British city 
crowded to the very water's edge, substantial, 
dignified. At one side of this scene, the ancient 
Chinese settlement, dense, intricate, with quaint 
peaked roofs, lay basking in the sunlight, while 
the hills and green glades furnished the fairest 
conceivable setting for the picture. 

Our reception at the home of Governor 
Blake was most delightful. Lady Blake and 
her daughters welcomed our party with the 
hospitable graciousness which distinguishes the 
ladies of England everywhere. 

Keturning to the hotel that evening we again 
commented upon the evident transcendency of 
the United Kingdom as the colonizing nation 
of the world. For after all, the greatest thing 
about Hong-Kong is not that it is rich or large 
or beautiful, but that, even though it stands 
within one hundred miles of Canton, the city 
of horrors, it is English to the core, 

136 



An Unofficial Attache 



On the second day of our brief visit at Hong- 
Kong, Admiral Robley Evans, " Fighting Bob/' 
as he is familiarly dubbed by his admirers, 
called upon General Miles, extending the greet- 
ings of our naval forces in the Orient to the 
representative of the army. 



137 



An Unofficial Attache 



HONG-KONG TO CANTON 

ABEITISH steamship company operates 
a line of boats which ply daily between 
Hong-Kong and Canton, a ten-hour 
run up the Pearl Kiver. On the evening of 
December 4th, our pilgrim band took quarters 
in the cabin of one of these huge steamboats 
for the ninety-mile side-trip, a journey which 
was destined to reveal to us a condition of 
horror and of brutal degradation such as were 
inconceivable to one who has not penetrated 
into the China of the Chinese. 

The cabin accommodations of this vessel were 
excellent, and its provisions for our comfort 
were lacking in no essential ; but on the lower 
deck a horde of gibbering Mongolians made 
night hideous. Hundreds of these yellow- 
skinned Orientals were crowded into the con- 
fines of an area reserved for their race, where 
there was neither bed, nor chair, nor any ap- 
pointment for comfort or for rest other than 
the bare floor. So numerous were the passen- 

138 



An Unofficial Attache 



gers here that, moving about as they did, they 
appeared as a great swarming mass of animals 
caged for shipment to stockyard or place of 
slaughter. Those who would sleep, crouched 
upon the floor as best they could, or leaned 
against the railing, snatching what slumber 
they might from the babel about them. Every 
boat from Canton to Hong-Kong, or the reverse, 
bears its squalid horde of Chinamen, dirty, 
stoical, and ugly, and this flux and reflux of 
a human tide goes on from day to day, and 
from year's end to year's end. The quarters 
reserved for the white passengers are a precinct 
inviolate for the Mongol, and to which no 
wealth of native merchant can buy access as 
long as his skin remains yellow and his eyes 
three-cornered. 

With a traveller's curiosity, I endeavored to 
find my way to the Chinese deck, to observe 
what was to be seen of the Celestial in his own 
preserves. When I found the doorway leading 
to this department of the boat, it was securely 
bolted, and an officer politely informed me that 
under no circumstances could any person other 
than a Chinese be admitted to the lower deck. 
The regulation is not only a matter of con- 
venience in the conduct of the vessel, but, as 

139 



An Unofficial Attache 



I soon learned, a necessary regulation. So 
keen is the Chinese hatred for the foreign 
devils that no one whose skin or whose garb 
proclaims an origin other than that of China 
is ever safe, when unprotected, amidst a throng 
of these fanatics. 

Our state-rooms were clean and comfortable, 
and sleep was not hard to woo that night. But 
before daybreak I was startled by a very pan- 
demonium of noises, shrill, eager, and excited, 
which seemed to be rising from the river, and 
mingling with the re-awakening confusion of 
the lower deck. Then, though unable to see 
anything from my berth, and though our boat 
was still in motion, I felt, somehow, inexpli- 
cably convinced that there was commotion in 
our boat, and that people were hurrying on 
and off the vessel. Hurriedly dressing, I ran 
out on deck and looked down upon a scene the 
like of which I had never beheld before, and I 
probably shall never look upon again. We 
were moving slowly toward our dock in the 
ancient city of Canton. Upon the misty gray 
surface of the Pearl River about our boat surged 
and swarmed a myriad of quaint-hooded row- 
boats, — ^ sampans, as they are called by the 
natives. So numerous was the host that it 

140 



An Unofficial Attache 



was impossible to even hazard a guess at their 
number. The river was black with them, and 
our boat was obliged to proceed with the 
utmost caution, creeping among them like a 
captive in order not to submerge some of them 
at every turn of her paddle. These ungainly 
craft vied with one another in eager efforts to 
secure places of vantage at the very edge of 
our boat, their proprietors struggling and crowd- 
ing, jabbering (doubtless profanely), making 
bargains with passengers on the Chinese deck 
to haul freight or luggage to destinations at 
other points along the river front from the 
landing place. So keen was this cut-throat com- 
petition for business that now and again, as 
opportunity presented, some raw-boned biped 
of unspeakable ugliness would clamber from his 
sampan onto the very deck of the steamer, 
seizing and endeavoring to transfer to his own 
small craft such baggage as he could convince 
the passenger would be best delivered by his 
trusty transfer boat. The babel of tongues, the 
noises of shifting heavy boxes and bales, the 
impact of boat against boat, sampan against 
sampan, all combined to make a medley of 
discord, — a veritable open box of Pandora. 
It is estimated that between fifty thousand 
141 



An Unofficial Attache 



and sixty thousand people live in these sam- 
pans on the river at Canton, many of whom 
are born there, live there, and die there, without 
so much as ever penetrating farther than a 
stone's throw from the shore. How it is possi- 
ble for human life to be sustained in such en- 
Aaronment, cramped, filthy, damp, unstable, it 
is difficult to comprehend. But all China is a 
mystery, — a horrible, ugly, pestilent, stinking, 
polluted cesspool of misery, and yet a mystery 
more baffling than the riddle of the Sphinx. 

Upon our arrival at the crowded landing 
place, we were met by United States Vice-Con- 
sul Langhorn, with chairs and bearers for our 
entire party. Taking our places in the bamboo 
sedans, we set out for a day of sight-seeing. 
The congested condition of the populace on 
the river was no whit less dense in the city 
proper. The streets are so narrow that two 
chairs can pass each other only with the great- 
est difficulty, both parties hugging as close 
as possible against the dirty house fronts which 
wall the labyrinthian maze. From every door- 
way, from every window, and at the entrance 
to every alley, swarms of Mongolians scowl 
upon us, abusing the "foreign devils,'' and 
cursing them in the name of every god and 

142 



An Unofficial Attache 



demon in the celestial hierarchy. Every few 
paces some ill-favored Chinese, more bold and 
defiant than his fellows, spits at us, with ugly 
grimaces and gestures of hatred and contempt, 
while his admirers jabber and gesticulate 
approval. 

Over the threshold of every door, or safe 
within the squalid shelter of the vestibule, 
stands the household shrine, sacred to the spirits 
of departed ancestors and propitious to the gods 
of the family, inviolate to the evil spells of 
demons, fiends, and spirits of darkness. At 
every shrine burns the undying flame of sacri- 
ficial offering, — a tiny flickering lamp which 
is never permitted to go out. 

The odors which assail our nostrils as we 
pass along the canyon-like streets are nauseating 
with composite elements of filth and food, of 
merchandise and incense, opium, gin, and the 
offal of chickens and domestic animals. Evi- 
dences of disease and scourge, of the ravages of 
small-pox and a hundred kindred plagues which 
flourish where there is no cleanliness, shock us 
at every turn and make us recoil from their 
revolting ravages. In Canton, human life seems 
to be held in little more esteem than the lives of 
dogs and cats. The body of a pauper or of an 

143 



An Unofficial Attache 



executed criminal is carrion. The flesh of rats 
and dogs may be utilized for human food. An 
exhibition of the horror of Chinese civilization 
was revealed to us as we passed along the main 
street of Canton. 

Drawing near a little court or area which 
opens off a market-place in the very business 
heart of the city, we were disgusted at the odor 
of blood which at this place added its redolence 
to the omnipresent " slum smell " of the city. 
A moment later our guides were walking on 
the pavement literally flooded with blood, and 
at the entrance to the little court-yard we saw 
two tarpaulins spread over heaps of oozing car- 
rion. With no less concern than if he were 
uncovering a side of beef in the market stall, 
one of our guides lifted the cover off the car- 
casses, and, to the horror of those who looked, a 
human head, dislodged from the pile of which 
it was but a unit, rolled down and on to the 
open pavement. 

The gruesome sight was enough to unnerve 
a ghoul, but the wholesale slaughter which 
these screens concealed was almost incredible 
to those of us who looked, and with our own eyes 
counted twenty-two cadavers in one heap and 
their severed heads in another. 

144 



An Unofficial Attache 



Only a few hours before our arrival these 
wretches had been led out into the public square, 
their hands tied behind their backs, and, kneel- 
ing down in attitude of prayer, had bowed their 
necks for the keen edge of the sword of the 
executioner. All criminals at Canton are exe- 
cuted publicly, and the mode of dealing out death 
is made as horrible as possible on the old old 
theory that example of torture and mutilation 
will act as a deterrent of crime. But the fiend- 
ish atrocities practised upon the law-breakers, 
" slicing," or gradual dismemberment of the 
living, choking, flaying alive, beating to death, 
and the many other forms of torture ingenious 
in its fiendishness of conception, seem only to 
inure the populace to the sight of horrors, and to 
make public executions occasions of excitement 
and thrilling entertainment for the curious and 
idle. The crowds which pause in their course 
along the streets to witness the torture of a river 
pirate or the " slicing "of a woman who has 
killed her husband in an opium-crazed orgy, make 
comments on the " gameness " of the victim or 
wager bets as to whether death will come with- 
out eliciting a groan or a wince from the tor- 
tured. The horrible butchery completed, the 
headsmen cover their carnage with canvas or 
10 145 



An Unofficial Attache 



straw-matting, sprinkle sawdust or dry rushes 
on the weltering pavements, and leave the scenes 
of their morning's work with as little concern 
as a butcher manifests in the contemplation of 
a day's product. Within the next twenty-four 
hours the scavengers will haul away the cadavers 
for burial, and the sun complete the work 
of cleaning the streets. The crowds will dis- 
perse, and no more attention be drawn to that 
awful mass beneath the canvas covers than 
a passing glance. 

A Chinaman meets death with the same 
nerveless stoicism with which he accepts all 
the experiences of life, and bows his head to 
the sword with no show of emotion, trusting in 
his bravery to secure easy admittance to Heaven 
for his soul. The dread of having his members 
scattered after death is more terrible than the 
idea of death itself, for to awaken on the day 
of resurrection with another man's head on 
one's shoulders would cause perpetual damna- 
tion in the after world. So firm is this belief 
in the minds of the Chinese that the relatives 
of the condemned often bribe the officials for 
the privilege of keeping together the head and 
body of their kinsman, to secure safe entrance 
to the company of departed ancestors. The 

146 



An Unofficial Attache 



tortures of those condemned to slow death are 
also often lessened by the use of money, the 
executioner either drugging the condemned or 
secretly administering a fatal thrust before 
proceeding with his dreadful task of torture. 

Only a few blocks from the scene of this 
awful carnage we passed almost under the 
shadow of a "garrote," the ghastly face and 
lifeless body of another " example " still in the 
machine, placarded with a bulletin giving the 
name of the wretch and a history of his crime, 
together with an admonition to the public to 
take example from this man lest his fate be 
meted out to others for like offences. 

Every turn of the street led us from that 
which was incredibly horrible to that which 
was unutterably worse. 

Every face which peered at us seemed like 
the memory of these " things " we had just 
looked upon. All the vile smells of Canton, 
to our excited olfactory nerves, savored of fresh- 
spilled blood, and our eyes shrank from looking 
too close at any object not understood at first 
glance, for fear of gazing again on some new 
evidence of the majesty of Chinese law. 

Needless to add, we declined a pressing in- 
vitation from some local dignitaries to witness 

147 



An Unofficial Attache 



the public " slicing " of a woman, an incident 
which was scheduled for the following day. 

When I had started on this trip to Canton it 
was with the expectation of enjoying a treat in 
the Chinese shops, and perhaps tasting some 
delicacies in the line of Chinese confections. 
Canton ginger, or other world's-famous luxury. 
But the longer we tarried in this ^^ City of 
Horrors," the less desire I had for sampling 
any morsel of food which could be produced in 
the foul atmosphere of Canton. Fortunately 
for us, we had come from the ship prepared 
with provisions for our brief visit. 

By special arrangements with the officers of 
the steamboat company, a couple of waiters 
and an ample luncheon of cold meats, sand- 
wiches, olives, crackers, and the like, and 
particularly a supply of sparkling table water, 
had been sent ahead to await our arrival at 
the Five-Storied Pagoda, a huge structure 
forming one of the ancient citadels upon the 
colossal city wall. This pagoda, about one 
hundred and twenty-five feet in height, an 
elaborate affair of many rooms and chambers, 
occupies a high position from which one may 
obtain a panoramic view of Canton and its 
environs. The building was evidently, at one 

148 



An Unofficial Attache 



time, a redoubt of great importance, and even 
to-day, after a period of disuse extending back 
perhaps a hundred years, it retains a certain 
air of majestic force, a dignity in ruins. The 
place is preserved without repairs from year to 
year, but evidently swept out on occasions 
such as that of our visit by the care-taker 
who dwells there with his ample family. 

Hither we repaired to partake of the viands 
provided from the ship, and here we had hoped 
to be, for a few minutes at least, out of the 
sight of the heathen rabble and relieved from 
the conglomerate odors which scent the air 
wherever a group of Cantonese come together. 

Our calculations were amiss. The excite- 
ment attendant upon our visit, and the native 
curiosity of the rabble to follow every move- 
ment of the ^^ foreigners," forestalled any 
attempt on our part to be freed, even for a 
short time, from the scrutiny of prying eyes. 
As we sat down to luncheon, at least a hundred 
Chinese, mostly children of both sexes and of 
all ages, edged into the room which had been 
reserved for us, and stood, wide-eyed and open- 
mouthed, to see us eat. We felt like a lot of 
animals in a menagerie, being fed for the 
edification of the crowds. They laughed and 

149 



An Unofficial Attache 



chattered at our peculiar and barbaric manners, 
and seemed greatly entertained at the manner 
in which we performed for their especial bene- 
fit. From their expressions we might have 
imagined that we had furnished them with an 
hour's amusement almost as interesting as 
an execution. 

As we took our way back to the boat that 
evening I was conscious of a composite emotion 
in which the elements of disgust, pity, contempt, 
horror, and revulsion united, producing a feel- 
ing of eagerness to get away from Canton and 
all that it contains. The excitement which 
one feels in this "Hell on earth" is like the 
delirium of a nightmare, — a sense of loneli- 
ness and vague, ill-defined fear. It seems to 
me that all the wealth of China and all the 
treasures of the Orient could not tempt me to 
live ten years in Canton. 

The " French Concession " is the section ex- 
clusively dedicated to the foreign legations. 
Even this place, apparently serene and peace- 
ful, is like a city built upon the side of a 
volcanic mountain, which, preliminary to the 
terrible eruption which must some day be let 
loose, belches forth poisonous gases, while its 
whole frame shakes with occasional convul- 

150 



An Unofficial Attache 



sions. The French Concession is guarded day 
and night by squads of armed soldiers, and the 
Chinese are forbidden to trespass in this reser- 
vation. But a handful of soldiers at the lega- 
tion would avail against a horde of Boxers, 
frantic and thirsty for the blood of the foreign- 
ers, about as much as a bucket of water would 
serve to extinguish the fires of Mount Pelee. 

When the storm of revolution breaks over 
China, as break it must, soon or late, the 
French Kevolution will pale into nothingness, 
and the ^'' Keign of Terror " will seem a mere 
historic pleasantry. 

Glad indeed were we to set foot once more 
on the clean pavements of Hong-Kong, to 
go to our hotel and there to revel in the luxury 
of the bath. It seemed to me that my whole 
body was stained and polluted by the very 
atmosphere of Canton. Like Lady Macbeth, 
I felt that " all the multitudinous seas " could 
not cleanse me of the stain of Canton. 



151 



An Unofficial Attache 



JAPAN 

THE journey from Hong-Kong to Naga- 
saki occupied ^n^ days, — days of 
rough seas, cold skies, and rain. Every 
league in our northward course was colder and 
more bleak than its predecessor, and about the 
only form of amusement indulged in aboard the 
" Ingalls " on this trip was an occasional prome- 
nade on deck between spells of seasickness. One 
member of our party, ashamed to acknowledge 
being seasick, insisted that it was the smell 
of Canton, thoroughly absorbed into his system, 
which was the cause of his extreme nausea. 
This pleasantry was the only joke made by any 
member of our company on the trip to Japan. 

Arriving at Nagasaki on December the ninth, 
we were charmed with the neatness and cleanli- 
ness of the city. After our glimpse of Canton, 
and the week of rough weather aboard the 
"Ingalls," Nagasaki seemed to us a veritable 
paradise. However, we did not tarry long 
here, but, after a few hours of sight-seeing, we 

152 







CQ 



An Unofficial Attache 



re-embarked and set out for Kobe, our course 
being over the Inland Sea of Japan, one of the 
most lovely and idyllic cruises in the world. 
Steaming over this placid sheet of clear water, 
we glided past a myriad of little islands, ver- 
dant to the water's brim and picturesque beyond 
description. The shores of this inland sea rise 
somewhat precipitately from the water's edge, 
and the hillsides are cultivated from base to 
summit. The skill and perseverance of the 
gardener are rewarded by the productivity of 
these gardens, and the work thus performed 
for purposes of utility bears amplest recom- 
pense in beauty of landscape effect, — it is the 
usefulness of the ideal and the idealization of 
the useful. 

At Kobe we took final leave of the '' Ingalls,'' 
and, by way of recognition of the courtesies 
extended us by her captain, our company pre- 
sented that officer with a beautiful sword, — 
the product of Chinese skill and art in metal 
work. 

Here we took a train for Yokohama, and, as 
night was already upon us, we retired at once 
to our berths in the sleeping-car and slept 
through the night as we sped away to the 
principal commercial city of Japan. The Grand 

153 



An Unofficial Attache 



Hotel at Yokohama is conducted by an Amer- 
ican, and is managed with all the liberal progres- 
siveness of an up-to-date hostelry. 

The charm which Yokohama holds out to 
the tourist is not so much that of commercial 
interest, though the industrial activities of Japan 
may be said, in a sense, to come to a focus here. 
The quaint picturesqueness of the town, the 
immaculate cleanliness of the streets, of shops 
and of people, the delicate coloring which 
appeals to the eye with subtle magic, the 
strenuous activity of the Occident reforming 
the civilization of the Orient, — all these ele- 
ments enter into the composite impression 
which the mind retains of Yokohama. 

Here we visited the shops and bazaars, fascina- 
ting with their stocks of bronzes, mosaics, silks, 
and delicate embroideries. Exquisite china- 
ware, transparent and thin as egg-shells, spices, 
tea, the pervasive aroma of which defies the 
skill of the packer, and a thousand articles of 
bric-a-brac and ivory tempt the sight-seer to 
extravagance. In some of the shops, American- 
made articles of celluloid and imitation tortoise- 
shell are arranged in deceitful and confusing 
promiscuousness among articles of genuine 
Japanese work. Many a rare souvenir of old 

154 



An Unofficial Attache 



Japan has its origin in America, whence it is 
shipped to Yokohama, there to be stamped with 
Japanese label, and re-shipped to the States and 
to other countries, — a counterfeit pure and 
simple, deriving a large part of its commercial 
value from its brief sojourn in Japan. 

One of the most interesting and beautiful 
entertainments which I ever enjoyed was a 
'^ Geisha Girls' Dance " at the " House at the 
Top of the Hundred Steps." 

A part of the city of Yokohama is. hilly, and 
this place of entertainment and many of the 
fine residences of the city are located in pict- 
uresque spots on the sides or at the crests of 
these hills. 

The management of the hotel makes a spe- 
cialty of providing for the entertainment of 
tourist guests, furnishing jinrikishas or chairs, 
and conveying the visitors to the most unique 
places of native entertainment, attending to all 
the details, and thereby securing for their guests 
the utmost enjoyment without any of the cares 
of an evening's outing. 

Although there is a good road circuitously 
winding up to the " Geisha Girls' House," the 
" Hundred Steps " furnishes a short and direct 
approach from the lower level of the city, 

155 



An Unofficial Attache 



and adds a touch of the picturesque to the 
scene. 

Entering our sedan-chairs at the hotel door 
after night had fairly settled down over the 
town, we were treated to a vision of delicate 
loveliness, more like a panoramic festival than 
a street scene of a metropolitan town. The 
moon spread her silvery radiance in generous 
profusion over the quiet city. No gaslight 
flickered from iron lamp-posts and no electric 
bulbs or sputtering arc-lights blinded the eyes ; 
but over the doorways of many houses gay 
paper lanterns with waxen candles or tiny oil 
cups with floating wicks glowed, many-colored, 
soft, and beautiful. Swinging from the poles of 
sedan-chairs and jinrikishas, hundreds of these 
mellow beacons flittered hither and thither 
in unending mazes, like will-o'-the-wisps. 
With our dim lanterns glowing before us, we 
mingled in the throng and our carriers were 
soon climbing the " Hundred Steps of the Geisha 
Girls.'* 

At the door of this low rambling house, a 
place more like a large private residence than 
a public resort, we were met by the mistress 
of the place, an elderly little woman who con- 
ducts the establishment here and seems to act 

156 



An Unofficial Attache 



both as hostess and as chaperon over the dainty 
maidens whose grace and beauty have made 
them great favorites among the fashionable 
society of Yokohama, and whose reputations are 
not tarnished by as much as a breath of scandal 
or ill-report. 

Following our hostess into a large, bare room, 
the only furnishings in which consisted of a 
few ornate screens and some straw-mattings of 
delicate pattern, our party seated themselves 
Oriental fashion on the floor at one side of the 
room. From behind an elaborately patterned 
screen, the dainty, slender figure of a girl 
attired in a flowing robe of exquisite delicacy, 
bearing a tray with cups of aromatic tea, which, 
with the grace of a goddess, she proffered to each 
of us in turn. As we sipped from these fragile 
cups of china, four or five other maidens, in 
quaint procession, entered the room and seated 
themselves with ineffable grace on the floor 
opposite to where we sat, first saluting us with 
courtesy and smile which revealed glimpses of 
pearly teeth and rosy lips. Presently one of 
these girls began to sing or chant in somewhat 
nasal accents with a weird rhythmic monotone. 
Her companions, joining their voices with hers 
at intervals, furnished a chorus, while she bore 

157 



An Unofficial Attache 



the refrain. As they chanted, a group of 
Geisha girls entered, straight as rods of bam- 
boo, yet lithe and supple, with an angular grace 
native to the women of Japan and inimitable 
by those of any other race. Now one, now two 
or three, now all in unison, they tread with 
stately dignity and fascinating grace the mazes 
of a pantomime tableau, their poses and their 
movements depicting visually the incidents nar- 
rated by the singers. In this way, although we 
were unable to understand one word of what 
was sung, we were charmed by the beauty and 
the chaste delicacy of these living pictures of 
the Orient. One might naturally imagine that 
a performance of this kind, representing a legend 
or a story of which we had no knowledge, and in 
which there was no incident of excitement or 
surprise of plot would soon become monotonous 
and wearisome. But the range of figure of the 
minuet and the exquisite grace and beauty of 
every movement held our attention with a fas- 
cination not unlike that of music to which one 
can give no words, but which stirs the emotions 
and fires the imagination. 

At intervals throughout the performance, our 
dainty waitress, assisted now and again by other 
silken-robed attendants, tempted us with deli- 

158 



An Unofficial Attache 



cacies. The tiny cups of tea^ the diminutive 
service of sake, choice morsels of delicate cake, 
candies and sugared fruits, and an occasional 
cigarette, regaled us and bade defiance to the 
thought of indigestion. 

So pretty was the entertainment, so dainty 
and quaint and odd the whole incident, that I 
cannot but regret that the briefness of our 
visit precluded the possibility of attending the 
theatres, several of which flourish at Yoko- 
hama. The unique and distinctly Japanese 
character of the performance at the '' House at 
the Top of the Hundred Steps " gave me an in- 
sight into a custom, purely national in charac- 
ter and of a beauty and a charm not easily to 
be forgotten. 

With Yokohama as our headquarters, we 
made several short visits to Tokio, the capital 
of the empire, which is kept in communication 
with Yokohama by the local railroad trains 
running at frequent intervals throughout the 
day. 

Though Tokio is a very large, busy city, 
possessing scores of places of interest to the 
tourist, the residence of the Mikado, with its 
ample and luxurious grounds and gardens, is 
by far the most conspicuous of these. In this 

159 



An Unofficial Attache 



city too the foreign embassies and public build- 
ings are remarkably interesting and attractive, 
while the many temples sacred to the religion 
of Buddha or to the gods of Shintoism attract 
the attention of the sight-seer. Here a grand 
parade and drill of royal Japanese troops was 
held in honor of General Miles. 

But Tokio in mid-winter is not a pleasant 
place to dally in. Too late for the chrysan- 
themums and too early for the cherry blos- 
soms, the December visitor shivers in the chilly 
air. 

He who would see the most purely Japanese 
civilization and life should visit Kyoto, the 
ancient city into which the influence of Europe 
and the modern age has scarcely penetrated. 
Here Japanese life is found in native simplicity. 
On the streets of Kyoto the garb of Europeans, 
during the winter season, is seldom seen, and 
we found ourselves as much objects of curiosity 
to the people here as they were to us. Here, 
too, the childlike ways and simple-hearted 
innocence of the Japanese is evidenced on 
every hand. Though not so inquisitive as the 
peasantry of rural Japan, who follow the 
foreign tourist even to his bedroom, and stare 
with open-eyed wonder at his strange manner 

160 



An Unofficial Attache 



of undressing or of lying down to sleep, the 
people of Kyoto stare us out of countenance, 
as with unblushing curiosity they examine the 
texture of our clothing and comment upon our 
uncouth appearance. 

But, excepting this apparent incivility, which 
springs from the simplicity of their hearts and 
the untaught frankness of their natures, the 
Japanese of Kyoto, like those of interior Japan, 
are the most courteous, deferential, and polite 
people on the face of the earth. 

The jinrikisha man bows and salaams with 
profuse deference, soliciting the privilege of 
hauling us in his two-wheeled car. With over- 
whelming expressions of gratitude he accepts 
the trifling fee which rewards his toil, and if 
the generous passenger chooses to add a penny 
to the fare prescribed by law for the distance 
traversed, extravagant are the manifestations 
of his simple delight and gratitude. 

The glory of Kyoto is the temples which lift 
their graceful forms in silent evidence of the 
fervor of the faithful. Here the imagination 
of the "flowery kingdom" has worked with 
unhampered freedom. Statues of the gracious 
gods, the givers of health and of life and of 
sunshine, the patrons of industry, the protectors 
11 . 161 



An Unofficial Attache 



of the home and bestowers of offspring, occupy 
exalted positions in the temples and at the 
gateways opening thereto. Mingling among 
these propitious saints are monstrosities of the 
sculptor's shaping, grim, ugly, misformed images 
of wood or stone, erected in placation of the 
demons of disease and blight. Here and there 
the fat paunch of a grotesque image is rubbed 
to a polish by the hands of suppliants, seeking 
by such devout observance to be freed of the 
torments of aching stomachs or the acute pangs 
of indigestion. Other graven shapes appear 
with ear, or nose, or toe rubbed completely off 
by suffering mortals in efforts to obtain relief 
from the " ills that flesh is heir to." 

"The Temple of the Thousand Buddhas," 
" Eengeoin," as it is called, is one of the 
wonders of the Orient. The following legend 
is a translation of the inscription engraved over 
the portals of this vast temple : 

" RENGEOm." 

In the first year of the period Chosho (seven 
hundred and seventy-two years ago), in the 
reign of Shutoka Tenno, Toba-no-mikado, after 
he abdicated the imperial throne, founded this 
temple, with one thousand and one statues of 

162 



An U^tofficial Attache 



Ewannon, having eleven faces, and called it 
Toku-chozuin. 

After thirty-two years, the retired Emperor 
Goshirakawa doubled the size of the temple, 
and placed one thousand and one statues of one 
thousand hundred Ewannon, naming it Shin- 
sen-judo or Sanju-Sangendo (thirty-three-rooms 
temple). The whole was called Bengeoin. 

In the reign of Gofukakusa-up-Sumeragi 
(emperor), in October of the second year of 
Hoji period (six hundred and fifty-five years 
ago), the entire building burned. 

In the third year of the period Bunyei (six 
hundred and twenty-seven years ago), in the 
reign of Kamayama Tenno, the temple was 
rebuilt. The middle statue was made by 
Oyokei and twenty-eight disciples and one 
thousand Buddhas by Kokei, Hogen, Unkel, 
and Hokkyo. 

Keturning to Nagasaki which, on the occasion 
of our first visit, had appeared to our eyes to 
be a very ideal of picturesqueness, we found 
that the city had lost its charm. The glimpses 
of the beauty and splendor of inland Japan had 
so captivated us that, in comparison, Nagasaki 
seemed a mere hybrid term, ordinary, uninter- 
esting, and dull. 

163 



An Unofficial Attache 



While we tarried here before our departure 
for Port Arthur, the United States transport 
" Logan/' returning to America with a throng 
of soldiers whose period of enlistment had 
expired, stopped at Nagasaki, the last land- 
ing before setting out on her long run across 
the seas. But the soldier released from the 
restraints of martial regulations is likely to 
shake off many of the restraints of civilization, 
and to lapse, for a time at least, into the wild- 
ness of the brute. The drunken, carousing 
mob of savages who ran riot in Nagasaki that 
twenty-first day of December did not thrill me 
with the pride which the sight of returning 
veterans should awaken in the breast of patri- 
otic Americans. Such a spectacle as this tends 
only to lower our nation in the estimation of 
the Eastern peoples, annulling in some degree 
the good influences which we strive so pain- 
fully to carry into foreign climes. 

One cannot view such episodes as these with- 
out being impressed with the desirability of 
"mustering out" our soldiers as individuals, 
and only after returning them to their own 
home towns. Then, and then only, can the 
dignity and the honor of the national uniform 
be preserved. 

164 



An Unofficial Attache 



POET ARTHUR 

THE Russian steamship " Argon/' an im- 
mense combination freight and passen- 
ger boat, was loaded to the guards 
with a mixed cargo, consisting of merchandise 
and men of many nations, when we took our 
places aboard her for the trip across the Yellow 
Sea. We who, only a few weeks before, had 
been sweltering in the tropic heat of the Phil- 
ippines, then wearing only the thinnest and 
coolest garments of white cotton duck, now 
shivered in our furs and mufflers as the keen 
air of the northern winter nipped and pinched 
us, and the hoar frost spread patches of gossa- 
mer lining where our breath touched at edges 
of upturned collars. The Yellow Sea was cold 
as the Arctic zone, but placid and smooth, 
rendering the passage within the cabins far 
from unpleasant. 

The lower deck of the " Argon," like that of 
the steamboat from Hong-Kong to Canton, was 
reserved for Chinese, some five hundred of 

165 



An Unofficial Attache 



whom were herded here under the general 
supervision of a Russian contractor's superin- 
tendent, who was conveying them to Port 
Arthur to labor on some great engineering 
undertaking. Sometime early in the morning 
of our second day out, two of these yellow 
giants became involved in a quarrel, and with 
characteristic savagery they were proceeding 
to settle their differences after the manner of 
primitive man. The rest of the men, drawn 
on by the excitement, formed into two great 
factions, madly preparing to back up the brawl 
of their champions in a free-for-all fight. At 
this juncture, the ship's officers appeared on the 
scene, and, with nautical despatch, put an end 
to the row, placing the belligerents under arrest. 

Amidst the greatest excitement the culprits 
were led out onto the very bow of the vessel, 
their pigtails were braided together, and their 
muscular bodies lashed back to back. In this 
manner, with no other covering than their coarse 
working clothes, the wretches were tied securely 
to a capstan and left in the icy gale, which stung 
and cut like the lashes of a hundred whips as 
the "Argon" ploughed her way through the 
winter sea, dashing high a frigid spray. 

The culprits stormed and cursed and threat- 
166 



An Unofficial Attache 



ened ten thousand vengeances as they were 
left here to have the badness frozen out of them, 
and the black scowls of the rabble on the deck 
boded ill for any officer whose firmness might 
waver for a moment or whose discipline might 
be tempered by the promptings of pity. But, 
as the hours dragged heavily along, and the res- 
olute stand of the ship's officers showed no signs 
of faltering, the wretched creatures at the bow 
of the vessel ceased to swear and threaten. As 
the savage blasts of the winter gale pierced 
like daggers, blinding their eyes and bringing 
a purple hue to their tawny skins, nature gave 
way, and the savage spirit was broken and 
cowed. Railings and curses gave way to 
prayers and supplications, and finally, the last 
humiliation of the Mongol, the prayer for 
mercy, was coupled with promises of future 
good conduct. Meantime, the example of their 
heroes, ignominiously lashed to the spar, worked 
a wonderful change of heart among the 
coolies who had been threatening mutiny. All 
evidences of bravado disappeared and the China- 
men were like a lot of caged beasts, cowed by 
their keepers. It was a vast relief to us all, 
when, after a seemingly interminable period of 
chastisement, the wretches were released from 

167 



An Unofficial Attache 



their bondage, and, half dead with the awful 
cold, were returned to their places in the hold. 

The episode was shocking to us all, but in 
General Miles it called up all the wrath and 
indignation of which his nature is capable. The 
savagery and brutality of it all he declared an 
outrage against humanity. But Miles was 
here only a passenger, and not the commanding 
officer in charge of the vessel, and his indigna- 
tion was equalled only by his helpnessness to 
interfere. 

Arriving at Port Arthur on December 24th, 
we were met by the representative of the 
great Russian Admiral Alexieff, the ^^Pooh 
Bah " of the vast Russian interests in the ter- 
ritory tributary to Port Arthur. 

In the name of the Czar they welcomed the 
general of the United States army, and his 
staff officers, to the hospitality of all the Rus- 
sias, placing at his service whatever accommoda- 
tions the army or navy or the railways of the 
Czar could furnish. While included in the gen- 
eral invitation to Russian hospitality, the civilian 
and unofficial members of General Miles' party 
were not included in the regal honors shown to 
our leader, nor in the list of guests at the admi- 
ral's official reception. 

168 



An Unofficial Attache 



We tarried at Port Arthur only part of a day, 
and in the afternoon we embarked on the " Zed/' 
a small Russian steamer put at our disposal, and 
carrying no cargo or passengers other than our 
small party and the vessel's crew. A warship of 
the Eussian navy had been prepared, but this 
we were obliged to decline, owing to the fact that 
it had no accommodations for the ladies of our 
party. 

Christmas Eve, 1902, I shall never forget. 
Scarce had the ^^Zed" left Port Arthur for 
Ching Wang Tao, across the Gulf of Pechili, 
when a terrific storm arose, lashing the sea into 
a seething, boiling mass, white-capped and run- 
ning mountain high. The vessel, carrying no 
freight, rode high, and as she rolled from crest 
of wave to deep valley between walls of water, 
her screw worked to little or no avail, being more 
than half the time above the surface of the water. 
The gale increased in ferocity, and the " Zed," 
creaking and groaning, labored hard, straining 
every muscle of steel in the battle with the ele- 
ments. Every gale which beat upon us seemed to 
threaten destruction, and in the vertiginous whirl 
of waters we were turned about like a basket of 
chips. But steadily the ^' Zed " gained headway 
over the pathless waste. At one point on this 

169 



An Unofficial Attache 



course, beset by perils in the fairest weather, a 
great lighthouse, standing solitary on its rocky 
foundation, casts its warning beacon rays far out 
over the water. To the traveller on calm seas, 
this light is an object of interest, seen for a few 
minutes, only to be lost from sight in a few rev- 
olutions of the vessel's propeller. For three 
hours the '' Zed" wrestled with the storm god 
almost within the circle of light which beamed 
from this lonely sentinel of the deep. Boreas 
seemed determined that we should not pass the 
perilous shoals of the lighthouse. But the 
plucky little ship, like a pygmy grappling with 
a giant, struggled valiantly against the storm, 
and finally we realized that we had passed the 
light, and the danger of being too close to shore, 
and were steadily advancing in the face of the 
wind. 

To illustrate again the fierceness of that 
storm which raged upon the Gulf of Pechili 
that Christmas Eve, the memorandum from the 
captain's log is interesting. When we had been 
six hours from Port Arthur we had covered 
only two hours' distance from our starting 
place, and the storm was just beginning. 

Though the winds abated and the waves re- 
ceded somewhat toward the end of the journey, 

170 



An Unofficial Attache 



we were twenty-four hours in effecting the 
crossing, - — a trip usually made in seven hours, 
— and Christmas day was well advanced when 
the ^* Zed," storm-beaten but victorious, hove to 
at Ching Wang Tao. 



171 



An UnofficialA ttache 



CHING WANG TAG TO PEKIN 

THE train which was to have conveyed 
us from Ching Wang Tao to Pekin 
had long since left the station when 
the " Zed " arrived, but the " Emperor's car/' 
the private railway coach of the emperor of 
China, was awaiting us, equipped with every ap- 
pointment which Chinese raiboad facilities and 
ideas could add to the comfort of travel. With 
this royal coach as headquarters, and with a 
guard of imperial Chinese troops stationed at 
respectful distance. General Miles and his party 
spent the remaining hours of Christmas day 
and Christmas night awaiting the arrival of 
the train. 

Time did not move on leaden wings, how- 
ever, and our little stay at Ching Wang Tao 
was eventful and interesting. 

Wherever there are great enterprises to be 
carried on there will be found Americans. One 
of the first voices to greet us as we left the 
^^Zed" had the true ring of Yankee accents, 

172 



An Unofficial Attacks 



as a genial-looking, energetic man stepped 
familiarly up to Mr. Rouse, one of tlie civilian 
members of the party, extending his hand in 
unfeigned pleasure at the meeting. Mr. Rouse 
recognized in the hospitable apparition a man 
formerly employed by the M. K. & T. Rail- 
road, of which he is the president. Mr. Brady, 
for such was the stranger's name, had left the 
M. K. & T. some years previous, to accept a 
position in the Orient, and here we found him, 
the general superintendent of the British rail- 
road system of China. 

After the relief of Pekin by the troops of the 
allied nations, at the time of the Boxer Insur- 
rection, the forces of the various powers that 
were engaged in that famous crusade were 
gradually withdrawn from the imperial city, 
but small detachments were left at Ching 
Wang Tao to be held in readiness for any 
possible repetition of the Boxer outrages, pend- 
ing the final settlement of the Chinese claim. 
At the time of our visit, the camp of the 
alhes was the scene of a Christmas celebra- 
tion among the men as well as among 
the officers. The visit of General Miles was 
made the occasion of a very graceful and for- 
mal exchange of greetings of good-will among 

173 



An Unofficial Attache 



the nations represented. During the afternoon, 
officers from the camps of six of the great 
nations of the world called upon the command- 
ing officer of the United States while he was 
still on board the steamship " Zed," lying 
at the wharf. The spectacle was unique and 
interesting. With stately dignity and attired 
in full-dress uniforms, gorgeous in gold lace 
and bedecked with badges of honor and insignia 
of rank, the officers extended to the representa- 
tive of the United States army the salutation 
of their respective sovereigns. The Tricolor of 
France, the Crown and Eagle of Germany, the 
Lion of Great Britain, the Royal Arms of Italy, 
the Imperial Checkerboard of Japan, and the 
Double Eagle of Russia fluttered in the winter 
wind as the Chinese troops, in formal line, 
stood at attention while dignitaries of the 
nations filed between them to salute the Stars 
and Stripes, waving beside the Great Dragon of 
China. 

In the evening, General Miles and staff 
returned these calls, and were the recipients of 
more courtesies from the officers of the allied 
forces. 

Mr. Rouse and the writer started out to see 
what we could of interest in the curious little 

174 



An Unofficial Attache 



town of Climg Wang Tao, and to discover, if 
possible, some quiet tavern where we could eat 
our Christmas supper and toast our beloved 
ones at home. To our amazement and our 
great delight, we chanced upon a little German 
inn which looked as if it had been imported to 
this Oriental frontier port from some quiet 
corner of old Heidelberg or Berlin. No people 
in the world keep Christmas with more devoted 
fidelity than the Germans ; and when we had 
taken our places at a little table, and called 
for supper, a waiter, with beaming smiles and 
Christmas greeting, set down in the middle of 
our table a tiny " Weinachtbaum," gay with a 
dozen wax-candles and sparkling with the tinsel 
trinkets so dear to the memories of childhood. 
And then over a bottle of dry Rhein wine we 
kept our Christmas in the German tavern at 
Ching Wang Tao. 

In the cold gray dawn of the following day, 
the train which was to carry us to Pekin pulled 
up at the station, and the Emperor's car was 
coupled, caboose fashion, at the end. A queer 
combination indeed was this train. The first 
three or four cars were built precisely Hke the 
flat cars used in America for the transportation of 
coal and iron or other heavy and imperishable 

175 



An Unofficial A ttacM 



cargo. But the freight in these cars was neither 
heavy nor bulky, though, from our observations, 
I should infer that it too was not perishable if 
kept in a cold place. These barges were liter- 
ally packed with Chinamen, hundreds of whom 
were stamping their feet on the hard floors, and 
beating their chests with their hands, or rubbing 
their frost-bitten noses in futile efforts to keep 
up the circulation in their icy members. No 
seats were provided, and no covering sheltered 
them from the wintry wind and the falling 
snow as the train crept on its way, mingling 
clouds of smoke and showers of sparks and 
cinders with the inclemency of the sky. 

Immediately after these observation cars for 
the rabble followed a few coaches, " first and 
second class,'' after the manner of European 
railroads, furnishing accommodations comfort- 
able in proportion to the price of fare. Our 
car brought up the rear, splendid in the pro- 
fusion of its decorations, but, in spite of the 
stoves which glowed at either end, as cold as 
an old-fashioned horse-car. 

Gladly would we have exchanged one of the 
regal decorations which bedecked this car for 
a few hot slabs of slate or some foot-warmer, 
no matter how plain or commonplace. All day 

176 



An Unofficial Attache 



long we sat bundled in shawls and overcoats, 
leaving open the door from the kitchen, which 
occupied one end of the car, and from which 
we derived some warming vapor, though un- 
questionably suggestive of culinary preparations. 

About noon we stopped for a few minutes at 
Ta-Ku or Tien-Tsing, the landing place of the 
American troops at the time of the Boxer In- 
surrection. From this point the boys in blue 
began their laborious and perilous march to 
the relief of the beleagured legation at Pekin. 
Thence on again we sped over the snow-covered 
undulations of China. For miles in all di- 
rections, as we looked from the windows of 
the train, we saw the ground corrugated, as it 
were, by the unending stretches of graves where 
the myriad Chinese dead of other generations 
lie buried, awaiting the grand resurrection of 
the last day. 

The traditional reverence of the Chinese for 
departed ancestors is carried to such a degree 
as to be absolutely ludicrous to one of Occi- 
dental birth. Few families in America can 
trace their families with any degree of authen- 
ticity for more than three or four generations. 
Even in Europe, the " family tree " is a matter 

of family pride rather than an object of reli- 
12 177 



An Unofficial Attache 



gious veneration. But the very peasantry of 
China seem to cherish a genealogy which had 
its origin in remotest antiquity, and the graves 
of ancestors, dead for hundreds of years, are 
preserved and tended with religious zeal. This 
ancestor worship is, in large measure, the basis 
of the static civilization of China, and the cause 
of their unprogressiveness. The West looks 
forward, and each generation takes up the work 
of progressive effort where the last generation 
left off. China looks backward, and regards as 
a heretic and disturber of the Eternal Laws 
whomsoever the spirit actuates to do other- 
wise than as the traditions of antiquity have 
sanctioned. 

To the Chinaman, no festival is so delightful, 
no celebration so sacred, as a picnic on the 
grave of some departed progenitor, and the 
antiquity of the grave lends added sanctity to 
such observance. On more than one occasion 
we saw the ridiculous and incongruous spec- 
tacle of a Chinese family, father, mother, and 
little ones, making high feast over some well- 
kept mound in the bleak and snow-covered 
wilderness. 



178 



An Unofficial Attache 



PEKIN 

A TROOP of United States soldiers were 
standing at attention as General Miles 
stepped from the platform of the 
emperor's car at Pekin. Minister Conger, with 
a party of American officers and attaches of the 
United States legation, advanced to welcome 
the officers to the hospitality of the American 
compound. We hastened to the legation, and, 
after the briefest of introduction ceremonies, 
the Miles party was parcelled out, each of the 
men being quartered on some officer of the 
post, or some official of the legation. It was 
the good fortune of the writer to be assigned 
to the hospitality of Lieutenant Welburn, a 
gallant young officer who, graduating from 
West Point at the outbreak of the Spanish- 
American War, won his laurels at San Juan, 
where he was the first man to reach the 
summit. For the conspicuous merit of his 
conduct at that engagement, Congress voted 
him a medal of honor. 

179 



An Unofficial Attache 



On arriving at our quarters we hurriedly 
washed of£ the stains of travel, and dressed for 
a dinner which Mr. Conger was giving that 
evening in honor of General Miles. At this 
dinner the guests consisted of the military 
attaches of eight nations, doing service at 
Pekin. The occasion was delightful, the ample 
dining-room of Mr. Conger's house furnishing 
a fitting stage for the romantic scene pre- 
sented by the officers of so many lands, re- 
splendent in dress uniforms of their native 
countries. Though formal, the occasion was 
in no sense stiff or stupid, the common in- 
terest of the soldier's profession serving as a 
strong cord of unification to the party. Good 
feeling pervaded all, and conversation never 
lagged. 

The following morning, bright and early, 
we assembled at Mr. Conger's house for the 
greatest occasion of our trip, — an audience 
with the Dowager Empress and the Emperor of 
China, an honor never before shown the visitors 
from any land excepting only the ambassadors 
of foreign powers on official business of the 
greatest import. 



180 



An Unofficial Attache 



AN AUDIENCE WITH THEIR MAJESTIES, 

THE DOWAGER EMPRESS AND THE 

EMPEROR OF CHINA 

General Miles and his staff, and the com- 
manding officers of the American forces at 
Pekin, Minister Conger and the official inter- 
preter of the American embassy, and the 
three civilian members of the Miles party 
made up the quota of those who were to be 
admitted to the presence of their majesties. 
The military officers were requested to appear 
in full-dress uniforms, with all the insignia of 
rank or honor to which they were entitled. 
Mr. Conger instructed the civilians of the party 
to attire themselves in evening dress, with 
white ties and gloves, black vests, and high 
silk hats. This is the conventional form of 
dress officially sanctioned for aU audiences 
with their majesties, and any deviation from 
it would be a violation of etiquette not to be 
considered. 

Assembling at the Conger home at ten 
o'clock, we found waiting, a retinue of royal 
bearers, five men to each of the sedan-chairs 
which were to convey us to the gates of the 

181 



An Unofficial Attache 



forbidden city. Taking our places in the 
chairs, we were lifted on the stalwart shoulders 
of our carriers, two men in front and two be- 
hind each chair, while the fifth attendant, a 
captain of the squad, marched before with all 
the pompous self-importance of a drum-major 
in a country band. Minister Conger's chair 
led the procession, followed by that of General 
Miles, while the remainder of the party brought 
up the rear. Our little pageant extended in 
a long line, single file, as we were jogged along 
the crowded streets of ancient and picturesque 
Pekin. At intervals along our line of march 
some of the bearers, tiring of the continued 
strain of carrying their burdens, uttered sharp, 
piercing cries, at which shrill signals the 
entire procession came to a dead stop. The 
bearers set their chairs unceremoniously on 
the ground and jabbered loud with the most 
astonishing lack of formality and deference. 
After a brief rest the chairs were re-shouldered, 
and, at a signal from the major-domo, off we 
jogged again. 

The streets were thronged with countless 
thousands who viewed the unusual spectacle 
of such a large delegation of foreigners passing 
to the sacred precincts of the forbidden city 

18S 



An Unofficial Attache 



and soon to come into the divine presence of 
tlie children of Heaven, — the dowager empress 
and the emperor. Deep-grained as is the 
Chinese hatred of the foreigner, the population 
of Pekin have learned a lesson from the ex- 
periences of the invasion of the allies, at the 
time of the Boxer Insurrection, and their out- 
ward bearing is respectful and courteous in the 
presence of the representatives of the various 
powers. Especially is this noticeable in the 
case of Americans, for the government has 
impressed upon its loyal subjects the fact that 
it was through the influence of the American 
troops that the present dynasty was restored 
to the throne and the probable partition of 
China prevented. Moreover, in the flood-tide 
of victory, the American soldiers alone, of all 
the invaders, refrained from looting and plun- 
dering. Pekin, the seat of the government, 
is far different from Canton, and here we saw 
no evidence of the national hatred and con- 
tempt for the foreign devils. 

After traversing a distance of perhaps a mile 
and a half in this imposing style, we arrived at 
the gateway of the walled imperial city, where 
we were met by a delegation of court officials 
who escorted us across a large open square to 

183 



An Unofficial Attache 



a most elaborate doorway of bronze in the 
massive wall of the forbidden city. Here all 
were requested to alight, and the chairmen took 
their positions without the doorway to await 
our return, like so many cabmen. At a word 
of command from some high functionary, the 
bronze door was opened by the soldier guards 
who were stationed here, and we filed through 
between the lines of soldiers, the imperial 
guard, and into the sacred area of the for- 
bidden city, where the foot of foreigners had 
never tread previous to the recent Boxer upris- 
ing. Within its holy precincts, two chairs of 
regal splendor, reserved for the exclusive use 
of royalty, or ambassadors of highest rank, 
were reserved for Mr. Conger and General 
Miles. The remaining members of the delega- 
tion, together with the reception committee 
and the royal guard, walked in imposing state 
behind the throne-like chairs. A few paces 
within the walls of the forbidden city we were 
met by the highest officers of the royal house- 
hold, who marched us through a long corridor 
to the royal library building. 

Here we were shown to a robing-room where 
we removed our overcoats and made ourselves 
ready for the formality of the court. 

184 



An Unofficial Attache 



Hence, hat in hand, we were ushered into 
a small reception-room, where were served light 
refreshments, tea, champagne, whiskey and soda, 
and cigarettes. The appointments of the room 
were sumptuous, but, judged from the standard 
of Caucasian civilization and aBsthetics, too 
frivolous and unsubstantial to be of imposing 
dignity. Everywhere was a great display of 
gold and embroidery, while the Chinese dragon 
greeted the eye at every glance. But the 
excessive draperies, the fluttering of countless 
banners, and the gay riot of color everywhere 
gave the entire scene an appearance of light 
frivolity, of carnival pageantry, most incongru- 
ous with the rigid formality and unchanging 
regime of the royal household. We sat about 
the beautifully decorated table, quaffing the finest 
liquors of the world, and puffing our Chinese 
cigarettes, as we chatted with the illustrious 
Chinamen who were our entertainers. Few of 
these dignitaries could speak any language but 
Chinese, and our conversation was, for the most 
part, carried on through the intermediation of 
the interpreter. 

Presently Prince Ching, the prime minister 
of China, attended by his staff, — the royal cab- 
inet, — entered the room, and, in the name of the 

185 



An Unofficial Attache 



government, welcomed us to China and to the 
imperial palace. After a few minutes' delay, 
the announcement was made that their majesties 
would receive General Miles and his party in 
the throne-room. 

At a sign from Prince Ching, all rose to our 
feet and formed a little procession, Prince Ching 
and Mr. Conger walking at the head, followed 
by General Miles and his aides-de-camp. After 
these marched the remaining members of the 
party, each accompanied by a member of the 
household staff. In this order we filed down 
a long, magnificent corridor, through a series of 
halls, thence out into an open court of vast 
proportions, surrounded on all sides by the mag- 
nificent structures which make up the enormous 
royal palaces. Rising tier above tier, the build- 
ings, with their massive columns and heavy 
doors, lift high their gorgeous domes and roofs 
of tile and marble, which shine and glitter in 
the sunlight with indescribable luxury of color. 
The queer double-curves of the roofs and the inev- 
itable elevations of their corners, surmounted by 
the all-present dragon of the empire, or ornate 
with fantastic gargoyles of stone, give to the 
picture a color, tone, and touch of quaintness 
incredibly fascinating. Across this court-yard 

186 



An Unofficial Attache 



we walked a distance of three or four hundred 
yards^ then up a gradually inclined approach 
to the threshold of the throne-room. 

Within this entrance a magnificent yellow 
satin curtain, stretching the entire width of the 
chamber, screened from us the sight of what 
splendor was beyond. We advanced to within a 
few paces of this curtain, vaguely conscious of 
the fact that the audience-chamber was a very 
spacious apartment, gorgeous in color and of bar- 
baric profusion of decoration. Moreover, beyond 
the curtain there was a palpable silence, — not 
the quiet of an empty hall, but the hush of a 
throng of people held in some subtle spell of 
reverence or of awe. 

A slight rustling of the curtain gave us our 
^' cue," and, as the heavy folds were drawn, we 
all cast our eyes upon the floor and bowed low, 
never lifting our eyes to the sacred presence 
which we knew was before us. Then we 
advanced to the middle of the hall, where we once 
more elaborately bowed before the persons of 
their majesties. Then, at last, we lifted our 
eyes. 

Before us, on a dais, sat the Dowager Empress 
of China, a little, pinched-featured, wrinkled, 
wizened old lady with incredibly bright eyes. 

187 



An Unofficial Attache 



Her throne was at an elevation of about five or 
six feet from the level of the floor. She wore a 
massive jewelled head-dress, glittering with a 
wealth of treasures. 

At her left, and several inches lower than her 
position, was the throne of the emperor. A cal- 
low, feeble-looking young man, listless and with 
an expression in which there was no gleam of 
interest, the puppet emperor sat like a man in 
a dream, apparently little more concerned in the 
scene before him than the chair in which he sat. 
But from that little bundle of draperies beside 
and above him, radiated intelligence, keen, ob- 
servant, sure, and every glance of her bead-like 
eyes was expressive of force, capability, and the 
pride of conscious power. 

Though her majesty was the cynosure of all 
eyes, we perceived that we were in the midst of 
a great concourse of people. Standing in solemn 
silence about us, as still as so many graven im- 
ages, a throng of men-at-arms lined the sides of 
the apartment, and an array of functionaries of 
the government stood in compact formation be- 
hind them, filling the long galleries at either side 
of the room. The display of color, the gorgeous 
costumes of rich silks and satins, and the gaudy 
brilliance of a hundred banners were no less 

188 



An Unofficial Attache 



astonishing than beautiful, and furnished a 
fitting background for the comedy which was 
about to be enacted in accordance with the 
revered custom of the Manchoo Dynasty. 

Our superlative salutations and genuflections 
completed, Minster Conger stepped a few paces 
in front of our party, and, addressing the dow- 
ager empress in English, of which she is unable 
to understand or speak a syllable, announced, in 
a neat and complimentary speech, that he had 
the honor of presenting to their majesties, Lieu- 
tenant-General Nelson A. Miles, the command- 
ing officer of the United States army, etc., etc. 

As soon as Mr. Conger had completed his 
address, the official interpreter of the American 
legation repeated in Chinese what seemed to 
be a word-for-word translation of the remarks 
of the minister. 

Following this. General Miles made a happy 
address, in English, of course, in which he said 
all the courteous, nice things about the Celes- 
tial Kingdom and its pleasant and helpful re- 
lations to the other nations of the world, and 
to the United States in particular. He spoke 
briefly of the purpose of his present mission 
to the Orient, and expressed his gratitude and 
appreciation for the great courtesies extended 

189 



An Unofficial Attache 



to him in his trip through the empire of their 
majesties. In conclusion, the general expressed 
the hope that the present amicable relations 
existing between China and the United States 
might long endure. 

After the general's speech, the Chinese inter- 
preter of the royal court jabbered off an 
astonishing conglomeration of nasal sounds, 
interspersed with innumerable aspirates and 
vocal gymnastics. This we intuitively under- 
stood to be the Chinese interpretation of the 
general's graceful and urbane address. 

Hereupon, Prince Ching, as the official head 
of the government, stepped forward, and, with 
courtly grace and fluent rhetoric, responded to 
the remarks of General Miles. The courtly 
grace we observed at first hand; the fluent 
rhetoric and the tactful address we appropri- 
ated from the lips of our Chinese interpreter. 

This second-hand exchange of metaphorical 
bouquets was saved from absurdity only by 
the formality and pomp with which it was 
conducted, and the solemn reverence which the 
presence of the Scions of Heaven imposed upon 
the assembly. But the after act which fol- 
lowed this main performance was the very 
essence of pantomimic drollery, appreciated by 

190 



An Unofficial Attache 



the American actors, but in which the Celes- 
tials did not even suspect any element other 
than that of dignity. 

Scarcely had the interpreter completed his 
translation of Prince Ching's address, when a 
slight move from the empress attracted the 
attention of all. With the natural instinct of 
the free-born Occidental, we Americans looked 
directly at her majesty as she prepared to 
speak. With the instinctive reverence in which 
the Mongols regard their rulers, all the China- 
men, from Prince Ching to the lowliest man- 
at-arms, cast their eyes upon the ground. 

Prince Ching ascended the dais before and 
below the thrones, and separated from the seat 
of majesty by a small railing like an altar-rail. 
He did not raise his eyes, but lifting his left 
arm with graceful reverence, spread the long, 
flowing robes of his sleeve before his face, thus 
screening his gaze from the direct view of those 
whom he was unworthy to look upon. Then, 
reverently as a penitent at his orisons, he knelt 
before the throne of the empress, resting his 
elbow on his knee, and keeping the folds of his 
sleeve between his face and their majesties. 

Minister Conger and General Miles, at a 
signal, advanced and ascended three or four 

191 



An Unofficial Attache 



steps to a position on the dais immediately 
in front of Prince Ching, and a foot or two 
lower. The imperial interpreter took his posi- 
tion between Ching and the Americans. 

Amidst a silence such as awaits the verdict 
of a jury when the life of a prisoner is at 
stake, the quavering nasal voice of the empress 
sounded distinct. Though the questions which 
her majesty was about to put to General Miles 
were practically the same as are asked of every 
diplomat who is presented to her, the function- 
aries in the hall, and Prince Ching himself, 
acted in a manner which seemed to indicate 
matters of great importance. 

In his attitude of self-abnegation. Prince 
Ching listened to the momentous question 
which fell from the lips of the empress. Then 
he arose, and, addressing himself to the royal 
interpreter, he in turn repeated the question to 
that official, who, of course, had heard it from 
the lips of the empress, as had every other person 
in the audience-chamber. But it would be pre- 
sumption and sacrilege for any person of lower 
rank than that of minister or cabinet officer 
to appropriate the words of majesty without 
the intermediation of some higher being, an 
oracle, through whom the empress speaks. 

192 



An Unofficial Attache 



The interpreter reverently heard the message 
from the illustrious Ching. Then he, in turn, 
addressed General Miles. By this time we were 
all alert to catch the purport of the remark 
which had come through so much red tape 
from the empress to the general, who stood 
near enough her throne to have conversed with 
her in a natural tone of voice. "How is the 
health of the President ? " 

This was the first question, and, coming as it 
did, it almost caused us, who had waited with 
such suspense for it, to laugh aloud. The 
relations at that time existing between Miles 
and Roosevelt were not of such a cordial 
character as to cause either gentleman to 
pose as solicitous for the well-being of the 
other. But if General Miles was conscious of 
the humor and the innocent irony of the situ- 
ation, no evidence of the fact appeared in his 
expression or his words. 

" The health of the President was good when 
I left Washington," replied General Miles, and 
the interpreter passed the glad tidings, though 
something more than three months old, to 
Prince Ching. That great man fell again to 
his knees, once more screened his face with 
his sleeve, and in tones of reverent regard 
13 193 



An Unofficial Attache 



conveyed to her majesty the cheering in- 
formation. 

Her solicitude on behalf of the President thus 
soothedj the benevolent old lady next turned 
her attention to the bodily welfare of General 
Miles. 

"How is the condition of your health?" 
was the somewhat garbled query which next 
worked its tortuous way from the empress to 
the general. 

" My health is good, I thank you." As we 
watched the progress of this second message 
conveying the important piece of information to 
her majesty, we wondered whose health would 
be the next subject of inquiry. 

We hoped that the empress had never heard 
of General Egan or Mr. Alger. However, the 
dowager fortunately changed the subject, de- 
manding next, " How long do you propose stay- 
ing in China ? " 

The question was a doubtful compliment, 
but General Miles tactfully assured her that 
our designs on China were to be strictly limited 
to a period of five days. 

" Will you convey to the President my best 
wishes ? " was the fourth demand. 

Whatever charges his opponents may have 
194 



An Unofficial Attache 



urged against him, mendacity has never been 
an accusation which has been successfully 
charged against Miles. But in this instance 
the general told a deliberate and barefaced 
lie. 

"It will give me great pleasure to convey 
to the President your best wishes," replied 
Miles, though it is very doubtful whether Mr. 
Eoosevelt ever received the kind wishes of the 
empress. 

" I wish you a safe journey to your home," 
was the fifth and last utterance of her majesty. 
With this gentle hint that the audience was 
over, she inclined her head in formal dismissal. 
Mr. Conger and General Miles then performed 
a marvellous acrobatic feat, bowing low and 
backing down the stairs. Thence they con- 
tinued their crawfish manoeuvre across the 
entire length of the apartment and out 
through the heavy curtained door through 
which we had entered. The remainder of the 
party followed their example, bowing and 
backing out at the doorway, all salaamed once 
more, and the curtains were drawn. 

In the foyer, we formed again in double line 
and marched back to the reception-room, where 
the luncheon-table was now spread for tiffin. 

195 



An Unofficial Attache 



Not only were chopsticks provided for our use, 
but at each plate were knives and forks for 
such as had not mastered the art of Oriental 
table-manners. Luxuries from all parts of the 
world were bounteously served in most exquisite 
dishes of china, silver, and mosaic. The high 
officials who had attended us at the audience 
sat at table with us, and showed the Americans 
every courtesy. 

After tiffin we shook hands all round, and took 
our departure. General Miles and Mr. Conger 
went through the ceremony of changing chairs 
at the entrance to the forbidden city. Pass- 
ing out through the bronze gateway we again 
entered our sedan-chairs, and filed along the 
ancient streets back to the legation quarters. 

In the afternoon General Miles and his party 
were the guests of the general in command of 
the Chinese forces. One of the queerest customs 
of Chinese official and social life is that of feast- 
ing a guest to the limit of his capacity before 
entering on the consideration of other more 
serious matters. Having dined at the royal 
palace less than two hours before our arrival 
at the military headquarters, we had lost the 
keen edge of appetite and were somewhat dis- 
mayed when confronted with another banquet, 

196 



An Unofficial Attache 



which the sacred custom of hospitality obliged 
us to despatch before reviewing the troops. 
But the dinner was so unique and interest- 
ing that the time occupied there could not be 
grudged. Birds'-nest soup, sharks' fins, chicken, 
lichens, artichokes, wines, and tea, and a score 
of other delicacies of mysterious nature and 
unknown origin graced the ample table of the 
chieftain. 

The dinner finished, we witnessed a drill and 
review of Chinese troops, foot and horse, an 
exhibition of military tactics of the highest 
order. The skill and discipline of the infantry 
was a revelation to most of us, who, judging 
from the primitive civilization of the Chinese 
in almost every other department of life, had 
rather expected to find the military activity of 
the natives on the same archaic basis. 

Leaving the garrison, Mr. Conger directed 
our course to a place where a steep incline 
leads from the level of the street to the top of 
the city wall, — the great stone fortification 
which, in its ample embrace of some twenty 
miles, folds old Pekin, Tartar city, imperial 
city, forbidden city, and all, in fancied security, 
the impotency of which the recent attack of 
the allied troops revealed. 

197 



An Unofficial Attache 



This city wall is of colossal proportions, being 
about twenty-five feet in height, and wide 
enough for two carriages to pass easily on the 
broad, flat surface of its top. The extreme 
thickness of this masonry at the base gives the 
wall the appearance of being much less lofty 
than in reality it is. 

On this vantage-ground we strolled for sev- 
eral miles, looking down into the city within its 
confines and catching a thousand glimpses of 
the ancient home of the Mongolians. At one 
place we came to a great break in the wall, a 
huge pile of broken masonry and crumbled 
concrete. This was the opening made by the 
attacking troops of the powers, as they forced 
their way into the city to the relief of the 
beleaguered legations. 

Pekin: unattractive; many, low, rambling, 
dilapidated buildings; streets wider than the 
alleys of Canton, but quite as filthy ; all carries 
with it the appearance, as well as the odor, of 
decay. 

Except the several legation compounds, the 
temples and the government and imperial fam- 
ily buildings, I did not see in Pekin a single 
structure worthy of being called a decent build- 
ing, — the one exception being the French 

198 



An Unofficial Attache 



church erected a few years ago as a penance 
by the Chinese, upon demand of the French 
government. 

That evening Mr. Conger gave a dinner to 
the members of the diplomatic corps of all the 
nations represented at Pekin, General Miles 
being the guest of honor. The affair was gor- 
geous and elaborate, and in its way as interest- 
ing as any of the official functions which we 
had yet attended. 

The following day being Sunday, no public 
ceremonies were held in honor of the American 
guests. We deemed it not inconsistent with the 
respect due to the day, however, to make it the 
occasion for a trip to the '' Centre of the Uni- 
verse," the " Temple of Heaven," and other 
places dedicated to the offices of religion and 
the care of the soul. 

Our course lay along some of the principal 
thoroughfares of the city, and the team of mules 
which drew us jogged complacently along among 
the caravans of camels and the helter-skelter 
crush of sedan-chairs and litters and Pekin carts 
which crowded the people on the streets. At 
one place, near a beautiful triumphal arch which 
spans the street, our guides pointed out the spot 
where Baron Yon Ketteler, the German ambas- 

199 



An Unofficial Attache 



sador to China, was assassinated at the outbreak 
of the Boxer insurrection. A short distance 
from this place we came upon another evidence 
of Chinese law, a sight very similar to that 
which, at Canton, had so shocked and revolted us. 

In the open square a rude scaffold extended 
its ugly arms or crossbeams, into which were 
fixed a number of pegs, like so many hooks on 
a giant hat-rack. From seven of these pegs 
hung as many human heads, dangling by the 
braided strands of their hair. On the ground 
around this framework lay the decapitated 
bodies of the wretches whose lives had paid the 
forfeit of violation of the law of the land. A 
group of little children were playing almost 
under the shadow of the execution block, and 
the appearance of our party attracted their at- 
tention, and held their interest, to the complete 
exclusion of the gruesome objects to which their 
eyes had become so well inured. 

From this repulsive sight we drove rapidly to 
a gateway in the city wall some distance away, 
and passing through this, we took to the open 
pike which runs from Pekin to the " Centre of 
the Universe," a magnificent park dedicated to 
purposes of public worship and consecrated to 
the sacred religion of the empire. 

200 



An Unofficial Attache 



Here the sestlietic genius of tlie Chinese had 
unfolded itself in its noblest expression, creating 
the most notable contribution of the Mongolians 
to the artistic and architectural treasury of the 
world. Scattered about the ample area of the 
garden a number of pagodas and temples of 
transcendent beauty lift their graceful domes 
and pinnacles into the azure sky. Of these the 
Temple of the Sun is the most magnificent, and 
he who looks upon this marvellous creation can- 
not wonder that the judgment of ages had 
pronounced this temple one of the wonders of 
the world. Eising flight after flight, with ample 
terraces between, their balustrades ornate with 
colossal urns and titanic vases, the broad white 
stairways ascend gradually to the temple, which 
glistens like a carven block of ivory at the sum- 
mit. Marble, tile, and porphyry, onyx, and agate, 
red, green, blue, yellow, and white, the treasures 
of a hundred quarries adorn and embellish this 
shrine which merits the title it bears. Rich 
mosaic patterns, slender pillars, graceful scrolls, 
and a perfect lace-work of mural decorations 
give to the yielding stone those soft and delicate 
effects which defy the skill of the narrator. 

Unlike most of the buildings of China, the 
" Temple of Heaven,'' the " Temple of the Sun/' 

201 



An Unofficial Attache 



and the " Temple of the Moon '' are ornate with- 
out being barbaric^ their beauty is not modified by 
any undue display of the frivolous or the gaudy. 

It is difficult, with the miserable stagnation 
of the Chinese people, and their complacent 
self-satisfaction and immobility, to understand 
how it has been possible for them to rise to such 
height of achievement in architecture and art. 
Almost the sole ground for a reasonable faith or 
hope for the ultimate salvation of the Chinese 
from eventual extermination by the more vigo- 
rous, virile, and progressive races of the West is 
to be found in such national achievements as 
these. Here, at least in the artistic and aes- 
thetic realms, China has the germ, which, if 
properly nourished and given a chance for 
healthy development and fruition, should some 
day bear a harvest of richest accomplishment. 
Moreover, there is to be found, lurking deep 
down in the consciousness of many a native of 
the Celestial Kingdom, a keen sense of humor, 
a delicate and discriminating appreciation of 
what is good and what is genuine in literature, 
in art, and even in the subtleties of metaphysi- 
cal thought. 

But the iron mask of tradition screens from 
the world all outward expression, its glassy 

202 



An Unofficial Attache 



eyes peering backward into the immobile past. 
He who through contact with the energy and 
progressive force of the nations of Europe or 
America would dare to exercise his influence 
for reform at home^ to exert on the decadent 
civilization of China a revitalizing spirit by 
which alone the ancient empire may hope even 
to preserve herself from annihilation, — he who 
would dare to do this must take his life in 
his hands and abandon hope of favor or pre- 
ferment. 

Almost invariably those who have served as 
Chinese ministers to foreign lands, returning to 
Pekin with new ideas, broadened conceptions of 
life, its possibilities and its responsibilities, and 
filled with patriotic ambition to serve their 
country as they know that she needs to be 
served, are received with cold disfavor. That 
the vanity of their dreams may be rebuked, 
they are reduced in rank to minor clerkships 
or offices in which they are obhged day after 
day to eat the bitter bread of insult and humil- 
iation at the hands of those who are in every 
way their inferiors. Such is the reward of 
patriotic zeal in China. 

On the day of our visit to the Centre of the 
Universe, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Maus, and Mrs. 

203 



An Unofficial Attache 



Conger were tlie guests of the dowager empress 
at tiffin in her private apartments, — a dis- 
tinction unparalleled. This audience was en- 
tirely informal and free from all the ridiculous 
ceremony which had characterized the reception 
of General Miles. The dowager empress enter- 
tained her guests in true woman fashion. She 
showed them the interesting features of her 
household, talking with as much freedom and 
naturalness as was possible where an interpreter 
was necessary for every sentence. 

Among other matters of less significance, the 
subject of the " Boxer intrigue " was mentioned, 
and her majesty took great pains to impress 
upon her guests that neither herself nor the 
government had been in any sense party to the 
acts of lawlessness which attended that insur- 
rection. Moreover, she affirmed that the Amer- 
icans and their interests were very dear to her, 
and that the debt of gratitude which the Chi- 
nese people owe to the United States for their 
part in the relief of Pekin, and their noble stand 
in reference to the adjustment of the troubles, 
was one which the Manchu dynasty especially 
hold sacred. 

Before departing from their delightful visit 
with the marvellous old woman who holds the 

204 



An Unofficial Attache 



lives of millions in lier tiny hands, the Ameri- 
can ladies were loaded with presents from her 
majesty, interesting souvenirs from the private 
life of the woman who rules the land of the 
Chinese. 

During the entire period of our stay at Pekin 
we were kept busy to meet the engagements in 
which the hospitality of the representatives of 
many countries involved us. Sunday evening 
we were the guests of Captain Brewster, United 
States military attach^ at Pekin, from whose 
delightful dinner-party we repaired to the 
English Club, where the attaches of the British 
and other legations make merry the long, 
dreary winter evenings at Pekin. The area 
occupied by the English Club is large, and 
is equipped with all the appointments which 
render club life pleasant. The great feature of 
this organization at the time of our visit was 
the skating rink. The ingenious Briton had 
availed himself of the severity of the climate, 
flooding the entire ground floor of the main 
structure of the club, and allowing the bleak 
winter air to convert the area thus prepared 
into a large sheet of smooth, clear ice whereon 
the revellers could glide rhythmically on glitter- 
ing skates to the music of an orchestra. 

205 



An Unofficial Attache 



Monday, the Kussian legation made us their 
guests, and General Miles reviewed a detach- 
ment of their troops on the parade ground. 
The Cossack drill which followed was a mar- 
vellous equestrian show, and made us all think 
of Buffalo Bill and the circus. But the troop 
of bearded horsemen from the northland are 
no mere show actors. They constitute an im- 
portant factor in the Kussian military scheme, 
and are warriors, first, last, and all the time. 
Their feats of daring horsemanship, their 
agility and skill in mounting and dismounting 
at full gallop, picking articles off the ground 
without slacking speed, or standing erect in 
their saddles, hewing and slashing with un- 
yieldy sabres as they tear at breakneck speed 
over the frozen earth, their juggling tricks 
with the huge rifles which they handled like 
so many reeds, — all these feats and a hundred 
more are to them the pastime as well as the 
pride of the Cossack brave. 

The icy blasts of wind which blew over the 
parade ground gave us a foretaste and a warn- 
ing of the bitter cold which was to enwrap us 
when, in a few days, we should be speeding over 
the bleak wastes of Siberia. We profited by 
the hint, and spent several hours of that after- 



An Unofficial Attache 



noon purchasing stores of heavy clothing, wraps, 
and furs for our northward journey. 

Our last night at Pekin was marked by a 
ceremony, the unique character of which was 
second only to the audience with the dowager 
empress and the emperor. This was the din- 
ner given by Minister Conger to ten of the most 
distinguished officials of the Chinese imperial 
government. 

The American guests were at Mr. Conger's 
house some time before the hour stated for 
the dinner, in order to witness the ceremo- 
nies attending the arrival of the splendid 
Orientals. 

Evening had scarcely spread her dark veil 
over the city, when among the throng of paper 
lanterns which flitted hither and thither on the 
poles of sedan-chairs appeared a gorgeous pag- 
eant like a float in a Mardi Gras carnival. In 
the front marched two giant torch-bearers in 
splendid liveries, carrying magnificent opalescent 
lanterns, subdued and soft. Immediately behind 
these lucifers, a regal chair, elaborately carved 
and inlaid with glittering gold, swung pendent 
from the shoulders of eight stalwart men who 
strode along with majestic tread and haughty 
demeanor. At each side passed two armed 

207 



An Unofficial Attache 



guards, whose presence proclaimed the passing 
of a personage of highest rank, and kept the rab- 
ble at a respectful distance from the chair. Two 
more armed men and another light-bearer 
brought up the rear, as the little procession 
halted at the door of Mr. Conger's residence. 
As the chair was set down on the stone-paved 
court an elderly man in robes of gorgeous satin, 
which peeped out from the folds of rare sables, 
his fingers glittering with jewels, stepped into 
the light of the lanterns and was ushered into 
the reception hall. 

^^His excellency, Hu-Yu-Fen, governor of 
Pekin and chief of the department of rail- 
roads," was the imposing appellation by which 
the splendid man was introduced. His excel- 
lency greeted every member of the company 
with courtly grace and that ease of manner 
which reveals the accomplished and experienced 
man of the world. His handshake was appar- 
ently as natural as that of any person in the 
room, and differed in no way from that of any 
European or American gentleman. 

Almost before Hu-Yu-Fen had been presented 
to the last of the group of Americans, another 
arrival was announced, and from a pageant much 
like that of the first Chinese guest appeared a 

208 



An Unofficial Attache 



second apparition, if possible more imposing 
and gorgeous than the first. 

^^ His excellency, Wang-Wen-Shao, imperial 
grand secretary and member of the cabinet," 
was the distinguished nobleman, and he in 
turn was presented to each of us, greeting us 
with dignity and formal grace, precisely as his 
predecessor had done. 

" In Rome do as the Romans do," was evi- 
dently the maxim of these Oriental gentlemen, 
and their deportment toward the American trav- 
ellers was such as would have passed as unex- 
ceptionably proper at Washington or in New 
York. 

The salutations to the foreigners completed, 
however, the Mongolians addressed themselves 
to one another, a lightning change of character 
taking place. In an instant the statesmen and 
diplomats facing each other, became again Chi- 
nese from head to foot. The air of formal dig- 
nity with which they had greeted us gave place 
to that extravagant deference and consideration 
of manner which characterizes the Oriental peo- 
ple in their social customs. The two bedizened 
dignitaries fell on each other's necks in fond 
embrace, and in the exuberance of their mutual 
respect and affection each sank to his knees be- 
14 209 



An Unofficial Attache 



fore the other. In this posture of humility the 
resplendent ministers paused for several seconds, 
bowing their heads and apparently endeavoring 
to outdo each other in this formal expression 
of esteem. Ridiculous as such extravagance 
seemed to us, the limit was reached when the 
two great men attempted to arise. Each took 
the other by the arms, and thus, face to face, 
each assisted his companion to his feet. The 
sense of courtesy which forbade either to arise 
before the other, demanded that they show 
each other that consideration which makes 
each deport himself as the servant to the other's 
comfort. 

That absurdly superlative show of deference 
and ostentatious humility which prevails at the 
imperial court of China is re-enacted with modifi- 
cations at every meeting of the aristocracy or 
official functionaries. In the course of the even- 
ing we were treated to a multiple exhibition of 
Chinese politeness, in which the degrees of cere- 
mony varied in proportion to the rank of every 
new arrival, though to us of foreign birth the 
greetings were of unvarying formality. 

The party which sat at Mr. Conger's table 
that evening was without doubt the most unique 
and the most gorgeous with whom it has ever 

210 



An Unofficial Attache 



been my fortune to be identified, the severe 
black and white of our conventional evening 
dress serving to accentuate the brilliancy, rich- 
ness, and magnificence of the Orientals. Mr. 
Conger, as host, sat at the centre of the table 
facing General Miles, the guest of honor. To 
the right of Mr. Conger was Prince Ching, the 
virtual prime minister of the empire, and to his 
left his highness. Prince Po-Lun, the prob- 
able successor to the present emperor. To the 
right and left of General Miles were seated 
respectively, his highness. Prince Chun, brother 
of the emperor, and his excellency, Wang-Wen- 
Shao, imperial grand secretary. On the follow- 
ing page is given the arrangement of the guests 
as we took our places at the hospitable board of 
Mr. Conger. 

Naturally the gentlemen who were conver- 
sant with both tongues carried the burden of 
the conversation, though the urbane manner 
and easy grace of these gentlemen of the East 
were such as to smooth over any slight difficul- 
ties in the way of social intercourse. More- 
over, the Chinaman has a fluency of gesture as 
suggestive and vocal as a language, — a national 
trait with which he is almost as richly endowed 
as the Frenchman. The lifting of an eyebrow, 

211 



An Unofficial Attache 


n 

> f 

Captain Brewster, U. S. A., 

Commanding Legation Guard, at 

PeUn. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Maus, 

U. S. A., 

A. D. C. Gen. Miles. 


Mr. Cooledge, 

Secretary of the American 

Legation under Mr. Conger. 

H. H., Prince Tsai-ChIin, 

Son of Prince Ching, Secretary of 

State. 



His Excellency, Lien-Fang, 

Minister and Member of the 

Foreign Office. 

H. H., Prince Po-Lun, 

Probable successor to present 

Emperor. 

Mr. Conger, 
U. S. Minister. 

H. H., Prince Ching, 
Chief Secretary of State for 
Foreign Affairs. One of the 
most prominent living Chinamen. 

Dr. Headland, 
Methodist Missionary, accom- 
plished linguist, particularly in 
Chinese language. 

His Excellency, Na-Tung, 

Vice-President of Foreign Office, 

Secretary of Finance. 

His Excellency, Hu-Yu-Fen, 

Governor of Pehin and Head of 

the Department of Railroads. 

^ * 
^ O 



Mr. "Williams, 
Official Interpreter of the Ameri- 
can Legation. 

H. H., Prince Chun, 
Brother of the present Emperor. 

Lieutenant-General Nelson 
A. Miles, U. S. Army. 

His Excellency, Wang-Wen- 

Shao, 

Member of the Cabinet, Imperial 

Grand Secretary. 

Mr. Tseng, 
Chinese Court Interpreter. 



Lieutenant-Colonel 
Whitney, U. S. A., 
A. D. C. General Miles. 

Mr. Chun S]&n, 

Official Interpreter of the Chinese 

Office of Foreign Affairs 






212 



An Unofficial Attache 



the shrug of a shoulder, the deprecatory move- 
ment of a hand, or even the hooking of the 
little finger flicking the ash from a cigarette 
becomes as intelligible and as fraught with 
significance as any word. The smile with 
which one of these courtiers of China took up 
knife and fork, setting chopsticks aside, was 
as tactful a compliment to the customs of 
America as any word uttered in the after- 
dinner speeches which concluded our meal. 

The tenor of General Miles' toast was com- 
plimentary to the empire of which we were the 
guests, and flattering to the gentlemen whose 
presence honored our host and our flag. At 
the same time the general's remarks were 
guarded and scrupulously free from anything 
which might be interpreted as an official 
opinion with reference to the " Eastern ques- 
tion." The toast of Prince Ching, on the other 
hand, was not only flattering, but it bordered 
close upon the subject uppermost in the minds 
of all loyal Celestials, and it was clearly in- 
tended to convey to our party the idea that 
China regards the United States as her closest 
friend, and looks to America as the power most 
to be relied upon in resistance to the encroach- 
ments of other nations. But the expressions of 

213 



An Unofficial Attache 



affection and esteem which come from the 
smiling lips of Chinamen are not to be re- 
garded seriously. It is to be feared that truth 
is a word not to be found in the Chinese 
code of ethics, and the entire system of gov- 
ernment which the Manchu dynasty represents 
is Machiavellism pure and simple. These per- 
sonal opinions and beliefs, however, did not 
detract one iota from the enjoyment I derived 
from that illustrious conclave at Mr. Conger's 
dinner. 

Above all things else, a Chinaman hates and 
fears the night, a characteristic which the 
Boxer insurrection has intensified. Night in 
China is beset with all the evils and perils of 
mediaeval Europe, and who walks abroad after 
the darkness has descended does so at his own 
risk. It was therefore still early, not more 
than nine o'clock, when our party broke up, and 
the august Mongolians departed from the Amer- 
ican compound in a body, their bearers, light- 
carriers, and outriders furnishing an escort of 
no mean proportions as they took their phan- 
tom way back to the safe haven beyond the 
walls of the forbidden city. 



214 



An Unofficial Attache 



FROM PEKIN TO NEW CHWANG 

AT six o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, 
December SOtli, before the breaking of 
^ the day, we boarded the Emperor's 
car at Pekin for our northward journey across 
the vast reaches of Manchuria to Siberia. Our 
host, Mr. Conger, was at the depot to see us 
off, and the greater part of the residents of the 
American compound were assembled to give us 
a cheerful and home-like farewell. There were 
officers and attaches of the legations, the officers 
of the American guard, and a goodly squad of 
soldiers drawn up in formal line. 

And so, amidst great shaking of hands, we 
puffed out into the cold, gray mist of the 
dawning day, bearing back to loved ones in 
America the greetings of those doing foreign 
service. 

For several hours our train retraced the 
course by which we had come to Pekin. At 
Tien Tsin, an attach^ of the viceroy presented 
himself, and proffered his services to General 

215 



An Unofficial Attache 



Miles as a companion for the journey, explain- 
ing that he had been commissioned by his 
excellency the viceroy to assume the responsi- 
bility of being our guard and interpreter so 
long as we should remain on Chinese soil. Our 
pleasure at having this addition to the party 
increased as we came to know the gentleman 
better. An accomplished scholar, he had spent 
several years in America, having taken a degree 
at Yale. His English was pure and accurate, 
and his information, not only on subjects of 
local interest, but on matters of international 
politics, was of a rare order. During the 
two following days, as we traversed the vast 
stretches of North China, we grew to appreciate 
and to respect this gentleman whose courtesy 
was untiring and whose knowledge of the 
country through which we were passing, its 
people, its political and social status, its history 
and its probable destiny, gave added meaning 
to all we looked upon. 

One evidence of the strained relations exist- 
ing between the Powers and China was visible 
to us at every railroad station in the Tien Tsin 
province and in Manchuria. In the former, 
a detachment of British troops was quartered 
near every railway station, and in the latter 

216 




Russian Soldier. Taken at a way-station in Manchuria 



An Unofficial Attache 



territory, Eussian forces guarded every station. 
In each case the explanation given was the 
necessity of protecting the property of the rail- 
way, in Tien Tsin, English, in Manchuria, 
Russian. Our companion, however, was one 
of those who could " tell a hawk from a hand- 
saw," and in the security of private conversa- 
tion he confessed to the fear that the ultimate 
partition of China could not be far re- 
mote, and that he could see no hope for his 
land nor his people between ^^Scylla and 
Charybdis." 

At nightfall we arrived at Shang-Hai-Quang, 
where the train remained until the following 
morning. It seemed queer to behold Sepoy 
soldiers at this place, doing picket duty in the 
snow up to their knees. "We wondered if these 
sons of the torrid zone did not feel a sense of 
brotherhood for the poor camels who were ban- 
ished from the sunny clime of their nativity to 
the bleak winters of North China. 

Our train had not been long at Shang-Hai- 
Quang when a brass band from the English 
garrison appeared and serenaded General 
Miles in his private car. Some British officers 
then came aboard and invited the general and 
his military aides to be the guests of the English 

217 



An Unofficial A ttaM 



officers at dinner later in the evening, an invi- 
tation which was accepted. 

Colonel Mans was su:ffering from a vicious 
felon on his left hand which rendered him unfit 
for social or official duties. As the general and 
his remaining aide were leaving the car for the 
sleigh which was to convey them to the post, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney slipped on the 
sleet-covered step of the car and fell some ten 
feet upon the iron trucks below. The vio- 
lence of the fall was so great as to render the 
colonel unconscious for a few moments, and he 
was hurriedly carried into the station, suffer- 
ing acutely. An examination revealed the fact 
that his back was seriously injured, and his 
condition was grave. Thus deprived of both 
aides, the general found himself charged with 
the care of two crippled attendants. The 
urgent appeals of both his aides, and the as- 
surances of all our party that the invalids 
would be well cared for in his absence, could 
not induce General Miles to leave Whitney in 
his alarming condition. The only remaining 
soldier of the party was the general's messenger, 
— an enlisted man and not one qualified for the 
discharge of social business. In this emergency 
the "unofficial attache" was delegated to 

218 



An Unofficial Attache 



convey to the British officers the information 
that General Miles would be unable to share 
the hospitality of their mess. The dashing 
ride in an open sleigh certainly proved exhila- 
rating. Returning to the train, I had scarcely 
opportunity to warm myself at the stove when 
we were called upon to solve the complex 
problem of our night's lodging. Shang-Hai- 
Quang is not much of a town, and boasts of no 
hotels. The Emperor's car, while sumptuous, 
was not spacious, and no cars in China are 
provided with sleeping quarters. With Colonel 
Whitney on a stretcher in one end of this 
coach, and Mrs. Miles and Mrs. Maus in their 
quarters at the other end, every available space 
was pre-empted. The remaining ones of our 
party, including General Miles, were obliged 
to wrap blankets about us, and seek such 
shelter as the hospitality of a well-nigh de- 
serted railroad yard afforded. Colonel Maus, 
we insisted, had us all at an advantage, because 
he could not sleep anyhow, the felon on his 
hand compelling him to walk backward and 
forward through the weary watches of the 
night, an occupation calculated at least to keep 
the blood from freezing in his veins ; fortu- 
nately, among the score of box-cars on the 

219 



An Unofficial Attache 



siding, we discovered a second-class passenger 
coach, an ugly, barn-like affair, unheated, and 
containing no other furniture than the hard 
board benches which served as seats. The 
temperature was several degrees below zero, 
and the wind blew in fitful gusts, forcing its 
way through the cracks in the floor and walls 
and about the windows and sashes. If ever we 
were glad of heavy overcoats, wraps, and furs, 
this night was the time. General Miles, inured 
to any inclemency of weather, and any priva- 
tion of the comforts of civil life, was the only 
member of our company who seemed to derive 
any rest from his contact with those hard 
planks. The attache of the viceroy of Tien 
Tsin proved to be a most excellent companion 
for " roughing it," and if he experienced any of 
the sufferings which the rest of us underwent 
that bitter night, he gave not the slightest 
evidence of the fact. Stretching himself on a 
bench, his satin robes incongruously out of 
keeping with the barren poverty of our shelter, 
he shared our misery with stoical calm. Sleep, 
for most of us, was an impossibility, but some- 
how we managed to live through that wretched 
night. 

With the dawning of the next day an engine 



An Unofficial Attache 



appeared from soraewhere, gathered together its 
straggHng retinue of cars^ backed noisily to 
where our coach stood waiting, with a bump 
and clang coupled that splendid refrigerator to 
the rear. Then, reversing her lever, the locomo- 
tive pulled slowly away from Shang-Hai-Quang, 
heading northward. 

A few miles further we caught our first glimpse 
of the Great Wall of China, that colossal monu- 
ment, the very antiquity of which proclaims 
the primal hatred of China for all that is not 
Chinese, and the eternal resolution of the Mon- 
gol to shut himself in from all influence of the 
outside world, and to bar out every encroachment 
of those who would bring new ideas to bear 
upon his static civilization. But the course of 
western energy has penetrated the very vitals 
of this mummy land. A great arched gateway, 
hewn out of this ancient fortification, furnishes 
egress and ingress for the unholy invention of 
the barbarian, which snorts and vomits fire in 
derision of the Celestial ideal as it rattles 
through the vast masonry partition which 
frowns in impotent defiance to the West and 
North. Looking back from the windows of 
the car, our eyes followed the serpentine 
course of this colossal folly of a nation, rising 

221 



An Unofficial Attache 



and falling as it threads its way over un- 
dulating Mongolia. 

All day long we rattled through the populous 
districts of North China, stopping frequently at 
quaint old cities with walls and turrets, and tak- 
ing on fresh stores of wood at every stop. Night 
had already set in when we arrived at Ying 
Chow, on the south bank of the Lian-ho River, 
the northern terminal of the British railway 
system of China. 

Ying Chow, which is but another name for 
the railroad yards of the greater city of New 
Chwang on the other side of the Lian-ho, con- 
sists of a few straggling cottages of the railroad 
employees, and a miserable aggregation of Chi- 
nese huts. With some dismay we contemplated 
the inevitable repetition of the refrigerating influ- 
ences of the previous night at Shang-Hai-Quang. 
But by this time we were becoming inured to 
Chinese modes of travel. The English popula- 
tion of the village, however, tendered us the full- 
est measure of hospitality which the meagre re- 
sources of their frontier hfe afforded. Our party 
was divided among the homes of the railroad 
people, who furnished us such refreshment as 
their larders contained, and though it was but a 
cold joint of mutton, a dish of rice, and a glass 

222 



An Unofficial Attache 



of tea which constituted my supper that night, 
a hearty appetite furnished the sauce and 
British hospitality gave flavor to the meal. 
After supper, with perhaps a few long, linger- 
ing looks behind, we once more bundled our- 
selves in furs and retired to the bleak security 
of an empty box-car. 

All agreed that the heat of the tropics is less 
of an affliction than the bitter cold of North 
China. 

Early the following morning we betook our- 
selves again to the houses of the good people 
who had served us with supper the previous 
evening, and we again taxed their hospitality 
for the morning's breakfast. The day was still 
young when a Russian officer from New Chwang 
presented himself at the car which by night 
served as hospital and ladies' quarters, by day, 
as General Miles official residence. 

This gentleman came to proffer to General 
Miles the services of the Russian government 
in facilitating his journey from Ying Chow to 
Moscow. At this juncture we virtually became 
the guests of the Czar, our Chinese friend from 
Tien Tsin taking leave of us as the Russians 
took us in charge. 



223 



An Unofficial Attache 



CKOSSING THE LIAN-HO RIYER 

THE Lian-ho is one of the great rivers of 
the Orient, a majestic volume of water 
which sweeps with incredible force its 
irresistible course to the sea. At New Chwang 
the stream is more than three-quarters of a mile 
in width, and exceedingly deep. 

"Thus far shalt thou go and no farther/' 
— this seems to be the dictum of the kingly 
flood. Here the British railroad of North 
China abruptly terminates at one side of the 
river, and the southern spur of the Russian 
railway comes to a stop on the other side. 

Whatever obstacles nature has put in the way 
of modern engineering at the Lian-ho, chal- 
lenging the genius of the bridge-builder, inter- 
national jealousy has multiplied many fold, and 
the mighty river rolls unspanned and unhar- 
nessed on its way. 

During the warm months of the year, the Lian- 
ho is navigable even by vessels of large draught. 
After winter has fairly set in, the river becomes 

224 



An Unofficial Attache 



clogged with ice, which, rolling down from the 
north, gradually masses itself, blocking the chan- 
nel of the stream from shore to shore. It was 
our fate to arrive at Ying Chow when the river 
was at its most impassable stage. The sight 
which met our gaze as we stood on the south 
shore and looked out on the seething flood was 
calculated to strike awe to the heart. Grinding, 
crushing, groaning like a herd of titanic mon- 
sters of the deep, great floes of ice fought and 
struggled in their mad force. Each moment 
sheets of ice and snow, flat and unbroken, swept 
majestically past, their edges coming within a 
few feet of the banks. 

To effect a crossing amid such a crush of ice 
was manifestly impossible, and the Eussian 
officer who had come to superintend our passage 
bade us wait the turning of the tide, which was 
now running out. There is one brief interval 
when the tide is just at the turn, and before it 
is at flood, when the returning waters from the 
sea check the impetuous rush of the ice. At 
half-past ten o'clock we readily saw that the 
struggling mass of ice was slackening its pace 
and resting, as it were, from the ferocity of its 
onslaught. Then began what was really the 
most perilous undertaking of our entire trip 
15 225 



An Unofficial Attache 



around the world, — the crossing of the ice- 
jammed Lian-ho. 

Along the bank of the river a band of fifty 
or more native river-men were busy in prepara- 
tion for the fight before them. They worked 
in groups, each group pulling with a long, stout 
cable a frail-looking sampan which seemed like 
a chip-basket among the masses of floating ice. 
From the landing place these rugged boatmen 
dragged their craft up stream perhaps a quarter 
of a mile, picking their way along the frozen 
shore. Now and then straggling sheets of ice 
would collide with one of these little boats, 
nearly jerking the hawser from the hands of 
the boatmen, and pulling the hardy fellows 
almost into the river. Bracing themselves 
firmly, the crew would give a concerted tug 
at the rope, lifting the boat clear of the water, 
and allowing the ice to glide underneath it, 
while they held tight to the cable. 

At last a place was reached at which it was 
deemed prudent for us to begin our passage. 
One passenger only was allowed to each boat, 
and four boatmen took their places at the oars. 
At last one of the boats set out from shore 
with its solitary passenger seated in the stern, 
undisguisedly fearful lest he should never again 

226 



An Unofficial Attache 



set foot on land. The native boatmen knew 
their business^ however, and silently, steadily, 
working like one man, they piloted their 
sampan among the threatening masses of ice. 
At one moment it seemed that the slight barge 
must surely be crushed between two great bulks 
of ice, but the expert oarsmen shifted her with 
incredible dexterity, so that she rode broadside 
against a third mass remaining in this treacher- 
ous haven until an opening was formed through 
which she could thread her perilous way. 
Bumping and slipping between ice-floes which 
threatened instant destruction, the brave little 
sampan finally arrived at her destination, and 
the passenger heaved a sigh of relief as he 
finally set foot on terra firma. 

In this perilous manner, our entire party 
effected the crossing of the Lian-ho. 

Hazardous as it seemed for those of us who 
were most perfectly able to help ourselves, the 
journey across the river was tenfold more 
dangerous for Colonel Whitney, whose crippled 
back still kept him prone on a litter, in which 
posture he was carried to the water's edge, and 
laid on the floor of a sampan, unable to lift his 
head or to turn a hand for his own assistance. 
An accident to the fragile bark which bore him 

227 



An Unofficial Attache 



would have meant certain death beneath the 
icy flood, for he would have been unable to 
swim a stroke, or even cling to the edge of his 
boat, should it have been overturned. 

The last of the party had safely landed on 
the Manchurian side of the river, when the 
guides called attention to the swiftly-changing 
appearance of the flood. The tide was now 
returning, bearing the masses of ice back with 
it, and as the on-rushing torrent hurled its 
batteries against the encroaching tide, the two 
floods met in violent struggle. But with every 
moment the tidal crest gained headway, and the 
floes of ice, hurled back upon themselves, ground 
fiercely over one another, churning the waters 
to a savage foam in which no sampan could 
have survived. 

At the landing at New Chwang a number 
of the Russian military officers met our party 
and escorted us to the local army headquarters, 
where a light tiffin was served, and we were 
made to feel that we were actually partaking 
of the hospitality of the Russian army. 

It is not the policy of the Czar to direct 
traffic toward the British railway, but rather to 
divert all possible freight and passengers from 
Ying Chow, thereby increasing the business of 

228 



An Unofficial Attache 



the Eussian lines toward Port Arthur and 
Dalney. Perhaps it is for this reason that 
the terminus of the Eussian railroad is not 
directly opposite the village of Ying Chow at 
New Chwang, but it is located at Inkoo, a 
suburb at New Chwang some six miles remote. 

Entering waiting carriages at the door of the 
military headquarters, we were driven through 
the streets of New Chwang, catching glimpses 
of the frontier Manchurian's life. Arriving 
at Inkoo, the Miles party was conveyed im- 
mediately to a special train provided by the 
government for their accommodation. The car 
reserved for the personal use of General and 
Mrs. Miles was the private coach of Admiral 
Alexieff, the viceroy of the eastern possessions 
of the Czar. In addition to this, three private 
cars and a dining-car, together with a baggage- 
car, made up the limited special which was to 
convey us from Inkoo to Manchuria Station, 
en route to Irkutsk, a journey occupying eleven 
days and nights. The subordinates of Admiral 
Alexieff had overlooked nothing which could 
add to our comfort. 

Our arrival at the train was made the occa- 
sion of an elaborate celebration, in which the 
leading ofS.cers of the military district to which 

229 



An Unofficial Attache 



Inkoo belongs participated with the utmost 
friendliness. After an informal reception, the 
whole party filed into the dining-car, where a 
banquet was served at the big table which 
occupied almost the entire length of the 
coach. 

With Eussians, eating and drinking is a fine 
art, and the skill with which a Eussian gentle- 
man manipulates and alternates the courses 
of food and liquors is almost a science. To 
the average American, the '' zakousky " or Jiors 
d'oeuvres of pickled fish, caviare, olives, and sand- 
wiches which precede dinner, and are intended 
merely as appetizers, would prove sufiicient 
for a banquet. The vodka and other potent 
drinks intended to whet the appetite would 
serve to put him under the table. "We did our 
best, however, to keep up the appearance of 
following the pace set by our hosts, though 
none of us attempted to compete with the 
Eussians in those accomplishments in which 
their national genius and the climate of their 
land have rendered them unequalled. A mili- 
tary band, remote enough not to be distracting, 
and near enough to be altogether pleasing, 
added its mellowing influence to the subtle 
magic of champagne. Toasts were proposed, 

230 



An Unofficial Attache 



and many clever responses called forth gener- 
ous applause. 

When the time came to bid farewell to our 
convivial companions, we felt a sense of regret 
that our stay with them must be so brief. The 
cordiality with which they wished us a safe 
and pleasant journey to the North and West 
was undoubtedly genuine. At a signal from 
the train despatcher, the regimental band, 
which had by this time taken its place on the 
platform just beside the car, broke into the 
exulting strains of the " Star Spangled Banner," 
a graceful and tactful expression of inter- 
national courtesy. All the Kussian officers in 
and about the depot and all the railroad at- 
taches removed their hats in salute. The bell 
sounded, and our train glided out from the 
station amidst a waving of hands and fluttering 
of handkerchiefs, and we were once more on 
our northward course. That no courtesy might 
be lacking, two Russian officers, one represent- 
ing the army, the other the navy, were dele- 
gated to accompany the Miles party as far 
as Manchuria Station. Both these gentlemen 
speaking English as well as Eussian were of 
assistance to us in arranging the details of the 
journey, shipping and transferring baggage, 

231 



An Unofficial Attache 



and in interpreting such communications as 
passed between us and the railroad officials. 
The day of our departure from Inkoo, reckon- 
ing by our calendar, was New Year's day, 1903. 
In spite of the Eussian calendar, which is 
thirteen days later than our own, we exchanged 
New Year's greetings and good wishes, although 
the people through whose domain we were pass- 
ing had not yet celebrated Christmas. The few 
days' ride from Inkoo to Manchuria Station, 
through a vast expanse of snow and ice, was 
interesting and instructive, though the extreme 
cold penetrated to the very marrow of our 
bones, despite the steam-heating apparatus with 
which the cars were equipped. The thermome- 
ter registered as low as twenty-eight degrees 
below zero by night, moderating to fifteen 
degrees below zero at noon. At no time did 
the mercury rise as high as the zero-mark. At 
night we added our overcoats to the blankets 
and comforts provided for our beds ; but with 
all the covering we could pile upon ourselves, 
we shivered and shook in vain search for sleep. 
Another phenomenon of this clime which added 
no little to the discomfort of travel was the 
briefness of the daytime, — sunset occurring 
soon after three o'clock in the afternoon, and 

232 




3 

c 

c 
.2 
1^ 

-M 

>> 

a 

a 

-M 



An Unofficial Attache 



night following almost immediately upon day, 
with no twilight. The long evenings thus 
thrust upon us we employed as best we could 
in social chat^ relieving the monotony by occa- 
sional games of chess or stud poker in the gen- 
eral's car. The country of Manchuria is well 
populated, towns occurring at short intervals 
along the railroad. The soil appeared to be 
fertile, and the frequent patches of forest, 
groves of northern pine and other hardy ever- 
greens, gave evidence of the healthy productivity 
of the earth. 

The roadbed boasted no ballast of broken 
stone between ties, as do American lines; but 
the track was fairly even and smooth, and well 
laid, though the speed of the train was limited. 
No experienced traveller in the cold clime of 
Manchuria or Siberia ever fails to keep well- 
stocked with tea, which serves as one of the chief 
staples of sustenance. By governmental edict, 
every station-master on this vast system is 
compelled to serve boiling water to any passen- 
ger who may ask for it. This is done without 
cost to the traveller, and is a provision of the 
utmost beneficence, particularly to the poor. 
Hot water in this bleak region is the great 
essential, and it serves as the basis of whatever 



An Unofficial Attache 



other and more elaborate potations may be 
desired. At every stopping-place of import- 
ance the passengers flock from the cars to the 
hot-water dispenser, where they fill their glasses, 
first carefully placing the spoon in the vessel 
to prevent cracking. From overcoat-pockets 
appear tea-canisters of all sorts and conditions, 
and the air is savory with the aroma of hot tea. 
The dining service aboard our special train from 
Inkoo could scarcely have been improved upon, 
and the thef who presided over the kitchen was 
a past-master in the art culinary. Our larder 
was stocked with an inexhaustible supply of 
meats, poultry, fish, and abundance of the 
staples and luxuries of the table. In addition, 
we had individually, and as a party, brought 
with us no inconsiderable provision. The 
great calamity of this trip was the sad fate 
of several cases of table-water which we had 
provided against the possible contingencies of the 
long overland journey. The entire supply was 
frozen solid, and all the bottles were broken. 

The hospitality of Admiral Alexieff, while it 
afforded every convenience and luxury, was to 
terminate at Manchuria Station. Although the 
government had provided a car to carry us all 
the way to Moscow, no provision was made for 

234 



An Unofficial Attache 



our sustenance. The personal attention of 
Admiral Alexieff alone had secured the excel- 
lent and bounteous service which graced our 
table during the journey through the regions 
over which he is the viceroy. Acting on his sug- 
gestion, we took the precaution of laying in a 
supply of provisions at the various towns along 
the road. 

On Sunday, January 4th, after a day of 
very rough riding, with the thermometer reg- 
istering twenty-nine degrees below zero, we 
arrived at Manchuria Station. A three hours' 
stop here gave us an opportunity to visit some 
native shops, where we invested heavily in more 
clothes and mufflers. Keturning from this 
little foray, General Miles produced a mild sen- 
sation by proudly displaying a pair of coarse 
felt boots with clumsy, heavy soles, — a gear 
indispensable to the Kussian peasantry. These 
boots were half an inch in thickness, and the 
general assured us that he never suffered from 
cold feet so long as he wore them. At Moscow, 
these pedal adornments disappeared, although 
we all urged General Miles to preserve them as 
a souvenir of the Siberian trip. 

The express from Manchuria Station to Lake 
Baikal was equipped with two private cars fur- 

235 



An Unofficial Attache 



nished by the Russian government. Our cook 
and larder we provided for ourselves. There 
was nothing exciting in the slow, monotonous 
clanking of the wheels as we crawled north- 
ward toward the steppes of the Trans-Baikal 
Province. Oddly enough, as it seemed to us, 
even the finest coaches on the Siberian rail- 
road are constructed on the primitive four- 
wheel pattern, double trucks being practically 
unknown. This crude construction renders the 
cars very inflexible, and emphasizes the inevita- 
ble jolting. Fortunately, there are almost no 
curves, the road running as straight as a 
die. 

After rattling along for three days over the 
gently undulating steppes, dotted here and 
there with groves of pine and birch, whistling 
through quaint, barren-looking Siberian towns 
with their Greek churches invariably painted 
green and surmounted by dull copper-sheeted 
domes, we awoke, on the morning of January 
7th, to find ourselves running into the teeth 
of the wind, face to face with a northern 
blizzard. At breakfast every member of our 
party found at his plate some trinket or souve- 
nir, for this day was, by the Russian calendar, 
Christmas day, and the ladies of our party had 

236 



An Unofficial Attache 



taken this means of reminding us of the festival 
to which we had scarcely done justice at Ching 
Wang Tao. All day long the storm increased 
in fury, and the snow piled higher and higher 
over the frozen ground. The locomotive 
struggled, bravely plunging from drift to drift, 
but making little headway against the encroach- 
ments of the storm. At sundown we were 
barely moving, and at nine o'clock in the even- 
ing we came to a dead stop, snowbound and 
unable to move. By midnight the track had 
been cleared sufficiently for our train to crawl 
on, and in another hour we arrived at Lake 
Baikal. 

This great sheet of water, — the ^^ Inland Sea 
of Siberia," — a fresh-water lake containing 
forms of life usually found only in salt water, 
long marked the eastern terminus of the dreary 
convict route. 

In the summer-time it is said to be a most beau- 
tiful and placid lake, too huge to be spanned by 
a bridge. The Czar's mandate that his railroad 
should run straight was inviolate, even at Lake 
Baikal; a monster vessel, in comparison with 
which an ocean-Hner is a mere yacht, was 
designed and constructed with special reference 
to the peculiar demands of the situation. 

237 



An Unofficial Attache 



Built in England, and carried piece by piece 
over the vast readies of Russia, and finally 
assembled at its destination on the shore of 
Baikal, this colossal ferry has a capacity suffi- 
cient to carry a locomotive and eighteen coaches 
with perfect ease and safety. In fair weather, 
this is comparatively a simple matter ; but when 
the whole surface of the lake is locked in the 
embrace of winter, the proposition is not so sim- 
ple. To this end the vessel is equipped with an 
ingenious device for ploughing its path through 
the frozen mass. In addition to the propeller, a 
second screw is located well to the fore of the 
keel, and at a position in which it is never very 
deep below the surface. The prow of the vessel, 
instead of being sharp and designed for speed, 
is broad and enormously heavy, and rides low 
and flat. The rapid motion of the forward 
screw acts as a pump, sucking the water back 
from the front of the boat, and creating a partial 
vacuum under the ice before the vessel. The 
weight of the ship being propelled against and 
upon the ice crushes the frozen mass, thus 
weakened, like an egg-shell, and the sea-giant 
grinds its way slowly but steadily through 
the ice and over the water. 
. It was long past midnight when our train 

268 



An Unofficial Attache 



arrived at Lake Baikal, where the great ice- 
breaker stood in her slip awaiting ns. But it 
happened that some accident to one of the piers 
rendered it unsafe for our train to go aboard. 
The members of our party, however, were 
escorted to the vessel, leaving the train and 
the less-favored passengers behind to await the 
morning and the completion of repairs. Here 
once more we had the distinction of being the 
sole passengers on board a Russian vessel, 
though this boat was many times larger than 
the little draft which had carried us across the 
Gulf of Pechili. 

Aboard, we retired at once to our comfortable 
state-rooms, where the luxury of the bath, after 
so many days on the railroad, was a delight. 
A few winks of sleep while our titanic ferry 
crunched the heavy ice, and we landed on the 
west shore at six o'clock in the morning, where 
we boarded a special car and steamed off for 
Irkutsk, a journey of some two hours. 

The Siberian town of Irkutsk is across the 
river from the railroad, and in the winter all 
travel thither is by the ice, which renders the 
surface of the stream as solid and firm as a 
highway, and over which even the heaviest 
traf&c can be conducted in perfect safety. 

239 



An Unofficial Attache 



From time immemorial Irkutsk lias been the 
asylum for convicts from the penal colonies of 
Siberia, whose terms of punishment have ex- 
pired, and for whom all return to Western 
Russia was manifestly impossible, owing to the 
perils of the long overland journey, without 
guides and with no supply of food. The com- 
pletion of the Siberian railroad is altering these 
conditions, making possible a more or less rapid 
communication between Moscow and the penal 
colonies in the Ural mountain mines. But 
Irkutsk was built under the old regime, and it 
retains, and probably will retain until the end 
of its history, its primal characteristics of a 
brutal, murderous, lawless, convict settlement. 

Crossing the frozen river, we visited many 
shops and bazaars in Irkutsk, although, owing 
to some religious festival, there was a semi- 
sabbath quietude about the city, and industry 
was at low ebb. An excellent hotel offered an 
attractive menu at rates of charge which were 
ruinous. 

Being obliged to tarry some twenty-four 
hours awaiting a train for Moscow, we found 
the city anything but fascinating. Moreover, 
our official guide instructed us to return to our 
private car across the river for the night, as a 

240 



An Unofficial Attache 



matter of safety, the city of Irkutsk being a 
dangerous place for strangers, and treachery and 
nihilism, robbery and murder lurking on every 
hand. 

Precautions had been taken to render our 
train safe from any possible intrusion, no one 
being permitted to approach after we had 
retired. 

At eight o'clock the following morning the 
semi-weekly train-de-luxe, electric-lighted and 
up-to-date, drew out for Moscow. Eight more 
days and nights we rattled over the bleak, cold, 
snow-covered landscape through innumerable 
villages and towns with unpronounceable names, 
passing here and there caravans of camels 
plodding knee-deep in snow, with their heavy 
loads on back. At some stopping-places, 
Burist and Kirghiz women and girls surrounded 
our car, offering for sale the products of their 
squalid farms, or trinkets and cheap jewels 
culled from the waste of the Ural mountain 
mines. Some of these latter were very ex- 
quisite, spheres of crystal of a soft green lustre, 
and something between agate and cat's-eye in 
appearance. These found ready sale among us, 
and coaxed many rubles from our pockets. 
These half-mendicant venders at the railroad 
16 241 



An Unofficial Attache 



stations were somehow suggestive of the Ameri- 
can Indians in the far western part of our own 
country. In type of feature and other racial 
characteristics they were very dissimilar to the 
high cheek-boned, copper-skinned natives of 
the New World, but in general appearance and 
manner they did not seem to be materially 
superior to the American Indians. If not 
savage, the Siberian serfs are at best scarcely 
more than half-civilized. 

At one way-station we overhauled a little 
band of fanatic zealots, with religious fervor 
tramping their weary way to the distant 
shrine of some " holy, blissful mart}^:,'^ like 
the Canterbury Pilgrims of Chaucer's time. 
Dirty, unkempt, miserable beings they were, 
four hundred years behind the time of Europe 
or America, plodding along the same old ruts 
in which our ancestors floundered in their 
course toward modern civilization. 



242 



An Unofficial Attache 



A TRAGEDY 

ACCOMPANYING the Miles party as valet 
to Mr. Henry C. Rouse was a man 
^ by the name of Charles Svensen, a 
pleasant-mannered fellow, always accommo- 
dating, and zealous in his efforts to please. A 
good cook and mixer of drinks, Charles often 
stood in the breach, supplying the needs of our 
company when hotels and the comforts of home 
were merely pleasant recollections. Whenever 
baggage was to be transferred from one route 
to another, or when trunks or parcels became 
lost in the crush of the baggage-cars or depots 
or custom-houses, Charles was always the man 
to find the lost and to start the stray articles 
along the proper path. 

A vigorous, clean, healthy young man, 
Charles Svensen seemed the last person to be 
singled out as a mark for sickness or disease. 
On leaving San Francisco every member of 
our party had been vaccinated, and this man 
was the only one of the number with whom the 

243 



An Unofficial Attache 



vaccination seemed to be effective, though it 
was at no time so violent as to render him un- 
able to be about his duties. In the Philippines, 
and in China and Eastern Siberia, we were all 
more or less exposed to contagious diseases 
which ceaselessly rage in the filthy Orient, but 
we all came as far as Irkutsk unscathed. 

At Irkutsk Charles Svensen complained of a 
slight indisposition, but as he was able to be 
about, and showed no signs of fever or other 
alarming symptoms, little attention was given 
the matter. The following day, on board the 
train, his condition was so much worse that 
Mr. Rouse, after giving him some simple physics, 
sent him to his compartment with instructions 
to go to bed and take a good rest. The man 
continuing to grow worse, we telegraphed ahead 
for a physician, who came aboard at the next 
station, and pronounced the case to be one of 
influenza, and reassured us, stating that the sick 
man would soon be better. A day or two later 
another physician was called to the train, and 
his examination caused immediate alarm, the 
doctor hinting at small-pox or scarlet fever, and 
ordering that we carry the sick man to Moscow, 
as to leave him at any of the small Siberian 
towns for treatment would mean certain death. 

244 



An Unofficial Attache 



All this time the general's messenger, Private 
Bardeman, an enlisted man from the ranks, 
shared the sick man's compartment in a car 
immediately in front of our coach, nursing him 
and attending to his needs with the patient 
fidelity of a brother, and acting as a quarantine 
agent, keeping all others from coming into direct 
communication with the sufferer. 

The night before our arrival at Moscow, 
the train stopped at a station for fuel and 
water, and the faithful Bardeman, almost 
worn out by his constant vigil, left the car for 
a brief breath of fresh air and a glass of hot 
water. 

As I lay asleep in my compartment, the door 
was quietly opened, and in a moment I felt 
somebody pulling at my sleeve, endeavoring to 
arouse me. Opening my eyes, I was horrified 
to find Charles bending his face over mine, his 
eyes glowing with fever, and his handsome face 
one mass of black eruptions, terrible to look 
upon. Instinctively I realized what it meant. 
The man in his delirium had taken advantage 
of the absence of his attendant, and, his body 
covered with the pestilence of black small- 
pox, he had sought me out in my bed. Piti- 
fully he begged for some medicine from my 

245 



An Unofficial Attache 



little travelling-case, the efficacy of which he 
did not doubt, even at the gate of death. 

When the other members of the party learned 
of this episode as we sat at breakfast, the 
gravest concern seized all, for we had all been 
exposed to the dreadful contagion. Again we 
telegraphed ahead to Moscow for medical aid, 
and to the American vice-consul, apprising 
him of our situation. 

At ten o'clock in the morning of January 
17th, after travelling steadily nineteen days 
from Pekin, and eight days from Irkutsk, we 
arrived at Moscow. Late as was the hour, it 
was deemed best to leave the train and to repair 
at once to the hotel. A number of Russian offi- 
cers had assembled at the depot, and at the 
entrance awaited an ambulance for Charles. 
The poor fellow supported his feeble body on 
the strong shoulders of his comrade, who had 
nursed him faithfully and fearlessly through all 
those long days and nights, with no other com- 
mand than that of humanity and fraternity, and 
the hope of no other reward than that of a clear 
conscience. No others were permitted to come 
near them for fear of the contagion. As they 
passed under the glaring lights in the depot at 
Moscow that desolate night we paused, thrilled 

246 



An Unofficial Attache 



with pity and those emotions which surge 
through the soul when we are in the presence 
of inscrutable and merciless fate. Thus we 
caught our last glimpse of Charles Svensen, who 
died a day later in an isolation hospital at 
Moscow. 

It was four o'clock in the morning when we 
were finally ensconced in quarters at the " Sla- 
vinsky Bazaar." Almost immediately^ the 
authorities, learning of the contagion to which 
our party had been exposed, proceeded to take 
precautions against the spread of the disease. 
At first it appeared that we were all to be 
placed in quarantine, but the intervention of Mr. 
Smith, United States vice-consul at Moscow, suc- 
ceeded in rescuing us from this ordeal. Our bag- 
gage was all fumigated, and our entire party 
was revaccinated. For prudential reasons, it was 
deemed wise for our company to disband at Mos- 
cow, and for the same cause all the proposed 
official receptions in Moscow and St. Petersburg 
were given up. As individuals the party departed 
from Moscow, and two days after the death of 
Charles Svensen, General Miles' company con- 
sisted only of himself and Mrs. Miles and the 
writer. 

247 



An Unofficial Attache 



Our stay in Moscow occupied but a few days, 
but these few days were fraught with that 
pleasure which one never fails to find in re- 
visiting scenes which have previously impressed 
themselves upon the mind. We had all been 
in Moscow before, but the charm of the Krem- 
lin, that most beautiful architectural master- 
piece of the Russian people, had lost none of 
its fascination for us. 

On Sunday morning an army officer escorted 
us to the Cathedral, where we were held en- 
tranced by the wonderful choral music, — a 
chorus of men and boys whose voices swelled 
in a great volume of sound, unsupplemented 
by any form of accompaniment. 

Before departing from Moscow for St. Peters- 
burg, we indulged in a relaxation without which 
no visit to this city of the North is complete. 
The sleighing of Moscow is proverbial, and in 
its way it is unique. The troika itself is a 
large sleigh very elaborate in its finish and 
general style. 

Three powerful stallions — a trotter and two 
runners — are hitched abreast in the picturesque 
harness, with the large, hoop-like shaft-arch 
forming a graceful loop over the shoulders of 
the trotter, which occupies the middle position. 

248 



An Unofficial Attache 



But the crowning glory of the Moscow sleigh 
is neither the vehicle itself nor the steeds which 
drag it; but it is the magnificent personage 
who, seated high on the driver's seat, urges 
the sleek-coated chargers on their untiring way. 
The bigger the driver, and the more colossal 
his headgear, the greater is the prestige of the 
turn-out. To judge by this accepted standard, 
it is safe to assert that a more stylish equipage 
never appeared upon the snows of Moscow than 
that in which we sped for three hours on our 
sight-seeing tour of the city. 



249 



An Unofficial Attache 



ST. PETERSBURG 

IT so happened that the day of our arrival 
in St. Petersburg was the great national 
festival of the " Blessing of the Waters/' 
an observance which, combining the elements 
of religion and of state, is the most purely 
Russian of any celebration of f§te in the 
calendar. 

The religious rite had its origin in remote 
antiquity, and the simplicity of its conception 
is as beautiful as that of many ancient rites of 
pagan Egypt or classic Greece. Even as the 
native dwellers in the valley of the Nile were 
wont to look upon the spirit of that majestic 
stream as the giver of all good and perfect 
gifts, and to offer sacrifices of supplication and 
thanksgiving to the mysterious Nile god, so the 
swarthy Slavs of the frozen North, while their 
streams are locked in the icy fetters of winter, 
call down upon their waters the blessings of 
the Most High. The rivers are the visible 
symbols of the infinite source of life, their 
250 



An Unofficial Attache 



waters descending "as the gentle rain from 
heaven upon the place beneath." Thereby 
the fields are fructified, giving life to the torpid 
seeds, and calling forth the harvest. Each little 
creek and rivulet meandering through the 
meadows blesses the ground it flows through, 
and the mighty rivers, sweeping majestically 
to the boundless ocean, are merged at last in 
the infinite. The sun and wind take up again 
in mist and cloud the atoms of moisture, to be 
returned in dewdrops and in showers unto the 
grateful earth. Therefore, to render thanks to 
the Gracious Giver of waters is to invoke the 
blessings of God upon His world. This, in 
brief, is the origin of the most beautiful observ- 
ance of the Eussian people which, though the 
pomp and formalism of ecclesiastic and oflicial 
ceremony have well-nigh obscured its primal 
purity, is at base as sweet and spontaneous as 
any rite of nature-worship or of pantheistic 
cult. 

Unfortunately, some confusion in the trans- 
mission of the telegrams from Moscow had led 
to a misunderstanding of our intended arrival 
at St. Petersburg. In consequence of this, we 
were unable to view the ceremony from the 
royal pavilion occupied by members of the 

251 



An Unofficial Attache 



imperial household and diplomatic corps, where 
seats had beeii reserved for us. Mingling with 
the unnumbered thousands who thronged the 
banks of the Neva, we unofficially witnessed a 
part of the ceremony. 

The great winter palace of the Czar stands 
in imposing massiveness within a stone's throw 
of the river. From a wing of the palace a 
beautiful peristyle extends, in graceful span, to 
a pavilion erected upon the solid ice of the 
Neva. The Czar, as the chief pontiff of the 
Greek Church, usually performs the religious 
rite of the blessing of the waters, assisted by 
the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, the ecclesi- 
astical dignitary next in rank. Owing to the 
illness of the Czar at this time, his brother, 
the Grand Duke Michael, acted in his place. 
Amidst the booming of cannon, the blare of 
trumpets, and the clash of drums, the grand 
duke and his attendants took their places on 
the platform at the end of the pier, surrounded 
by members of the royalty and church officials 
of rank. The crowds on shore and on the ice 
of the Neva, held at respectful distance by 
lines of imperial troops, surged and thronged in 
noisy but good-natured struggle for positions 
of vantage, and the foreign sight-seer might 

252 



An Unofficial Attache 



discover very miicli the same degree of religious 
deference among them as is to be found at a 
Thanksgiving football game in an American 
college town, though our national holiday was 
also one of religious origin. 

The observance of this ceremony is not con- 
fined to St. Petersburg, but every city, town, 
and hamlet in the vast domain of the Czar 
makes festival, the chief local official of the 
Established Church presiding over the religious 
functions, and the people making merry in gala- 
day attire. 

After the completion of the formalities at 
the river, the crowds scatter, hurrying to places 
of amusement or to family dinner-parties, or 
surgmg along the Nevski Prospekt, the great 
avenue of fashionable promenade. Here the 
snow-covered boulevard is thronged with sleighs 
of the aristocracy, — gorgeous equipages these, 
with their powerful black stallions, three 
abreast, and liveried footmen bundled in furs 
worth a king's ransom. 

Within are seated the scions of nobility, the 
peers of the land and their ladies. The favored 
elite pass on to the palace, where, on this day, 
their majesties hold receptions. Others speed 
away over the snow on social errands, or merely 



An Unofficial Attache 



for the pleasure of the sleigh-ride and the ex- 
citement of the day. Greetings are called from 
droshky to droshky, and the rabble gaze in ad- 
miration as the vehicles of notables in gay 
costume whirl past in endless procession. 

The Nevski Prospekt and the shores of the 
Neva on this day present a pageant which is 
fascinating to behold. Though winter wraps 
and overcoats prevent the display of gold lace 
and splendid uniform so dear to the Russian 
eye, dashes of color are not wanting to brighten 
the scene. Many of the laprobes are of great 
beauty and elaborate pattern, and on almost 
every sleigh a net of brilliant green or blue, or 
other bright hue, is spread from the backs of 
the horses to the dashboard, to catch the snow 
which the hoofs of the steeds throw up in their 
swift course, and which else would pelt the faces 
of those within the vehicles. 

Five days we tarried in St. Petersburg, where 
General Miles was kept ceaselessly occupied 
with official business and the social demands 
made upon him by members of the Russian 
war department. 

Those were busy days for the writer, but 
they were the freest days of the entire trip. 
All formal receptions and audiences had been 

254 



An Unofficial Attache 



abandoned, owing to tlie small-pox episode in 
Moscow. I haunted the National Museum, Sts. 
Isaacs and Peter and Paul, and a score of other 
places of equal interest. Mrs. Miles accom- 
panied me to the Grand Opera, to the circus, 
and to concerts ; we took long rides, and en- 
joyed St. Peterburg with all the freedom of 
unofficial tourists. 



255 



An Unofficial A ttache 



BERLIN 

THERE is nothing exciting or partic- 
ularly novel in the trip from St. 
Petersburg to the German capital. 
It was rather surprising for me^ however, to 
find that we were the only English-speaking 
persons on the train, and our linguistic attain- 
ments were of no rare order. None of us spoke 
Russian, and the writer's smattering of German 
stood us in good stead, as it was our only means 
of making our wants known to the railroad 
attaches. 

Colonel Maus met us at the depot in Berlin, 
and the following morning General and Mrs. 
Miles and Colonel and Mrs. Maus went on to 
Paris. Left thus to myself in Old Berlin, with 
the charming Bristol Hotel as headquarters, I 
revelled in the fascinating haunts of the historic 
city. 

It is not within the province of this book to 
dwell at length upon the sights of Berlin or of 
London or of any of the cities of modern Europe 

256 



An Unofficial Attache 



wliicli are commonly on the itinerary of tlie 
tourist. My narrative, whicli concerns itself 
only with that which was unique and out of 
the daily course of events^ may not tarry to 
describe the wonders of this treasure-ground 
of German achievement. Galleries, museums, 
palaces, and cathedrals, the pageantry of concen- 
trated militarism, the stress of Teutonic energy 
which surges along the ancient streets, — all 
these are tempting subjects to lure the writer 
into devious paths of dalliance. 

The particular mission which had induced 
me to remain in Berlin, rather than to accom- 
pany my friends to the French metropolis, was 
purely personal; the desire to renew one of 
the most valued friendships of my life, — that 
with Prince Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, whose 
acquaintance I had formed several years before 
while touring in the land of the midnight sun. 
It was through his courtesy that my family and 
myself had been received into the private hospi- 
tality of his majesty, the Kaiser. The prince 
and his charming wife, who had been Princess 
Ypsilanti of Greece, were spending several days 
of this week in Berlin, to be present on the 
occasion of the Kaiser's Geburtstag, the great 
national festival which brings together at 



17 257 



An Unofficial Attache 



the Sdaloss all the royalty of the German 
empire. 

Owing to the number of official duties and 
social obligations of the week, Prince Hohenlohe 
was free to spend comparatively little time with 
me, but we did manage to dine together thrice, 
and one morning we drove together the length 
of the beautiful Unter den Linden to the Schloss, 
where we were registered and where we left 
cards for his majesty. 

January 27th, the emperor's birthday, 
dawned clear and beautiful, and with the 
awakening day the city became resplendent 
with the gorgeous accoutrements of the royalty 
of the empire. From a window in the Bristol 
Hotel, with Mr. Rouse and Mr. Hoyt, who had 
joined me that morning, we looked down upon 
a magnificent spectacle. The hotel lodged many 
of the members of nobility, and every royal 
equipage passed here on its way to the castle. 

On this his natal day the emperor publicly 
gives thanks to God for the blessings which 
have been vouchsafed to him. This ceremony 
is observed in the royal chapel, in the presence 
of his kinsmen, his royal vassals, the kings and 
princes of the petty principalities which make 
up the German empire, and the members of the 

258 



An Unofficial Attache 



official staff of the government. The ceremony 
completed^ his majesty receives the congratu- 
lations of his retainers in the throne-room. 

This is the day of Vanity Fair. In seeming 
endless procession, those who were " born great " 
sweep by. The imagination of the on-looker 
reverts to the fairy tales of childhood, and the 
wonders of the courts of " Once upon a Time/' 
the Sleeping Beauty, and the romantic prince 
who showered the diamonds at the feet of 
Cinderella. A prosaic American, with the in- 
stincts of the democratic New World, regards 
such a scene as almost an unreality or a spec- 
tacular production which will cease at the falling 
of a curtain when the lime-lights are turned 
down. The German, with centuries of tradi- 
tional reverence behind him, regards it all with 
awe, and as the symbol of that which is most 
abiding and fundamental in the life of the 
nation. Chivalry, the spirit of the feudal age, 
this day pranks itself in all the golden panoply 
of yore, and the fervid patriotism of the Teuton 
forgets for the moment the enfranchisement 
which the centuries have wrought, and yields 
spontaneous homage to the rehabilitated past. 

Gold lace and trappings, jewels and badges 
of honor, robes of velvet and ermine, silken 

1^59 



An Unofficial Attache 



sashes, rainbow-hued, coaches ornate with the 
handicraft of silversmith and herald, and drawn 
by supernumerary horses, outriders in the splen- 
did liveries of ancient families, — these are the 
elements which go to make up the retinue of 
those who do homage to the Kaiser. Kings 
and princes, fUrsten and grafen, and the ladies 
of their courts, this is their day. 

To-morrow, the Socialists in the Eeichsrath 
will kill a favorite measure of the Kaiser. 



260 



An Unofficial Attache 



LONDON 

ON the eve of our departure from Berlin^ 
after all plans had been completed^ 
tickets secured, and reservations made, 
the writer received a courteous note from Count 
Yon Eulenberg, master of ceremonies at the 
German court, stating that the Kaiser would 
be pleased to receive me the following Sunday. 
This signal mark of favor came as a great 
surprise, my call at the Schloss having been 
purely incidental. I was surprised that his 
majesty remembered me, an American tourist 
whose presentation to the emperor had been 
brought about through the love of Prince 
Hohenlohe for my children. The prince at 
that time took upon himself to present the 
children to the emperor on board the royal 
yacht, and this episode, several years before 
the occasion of the visit of the Miles party, 
had brought about an informal introduction to 
his majesty, and the consequent interchange of 
several purely personal civilities. My chagrin 

261 



An Unofficial Attache 



at being unable to tarry long enough in Berlin 
to present my compliments in person to the 
emperor therefore was great. 

The following morning we caught a few 
glimpses of the spires of Cologne from the 
windows of the railroad coach. A rough 
passage from Ostend across the Channel to 
Dover consumed all the afternoon, and at ten 
o'clock the next morning we rejoined General 
Miles and his retinue at the Hotel Carleton in 
good old London town. 

How bully it seemed, after those months of 
sojourn among peoples of divers nations and 
the discordant clacking of alien tongues, to 
find ourselves again amongst Englishmen, to 
hear the familiar accents of our own Anglo- 
Saxon speech, and to feel ourselves among the 
people whose language, customs, manners, and 
traditions are the same as ours, whose history 
is our history, and whose destiny is linked with 
that of our own land. 

On Sunday morning we awoke to the chimes 
of London, and, acting on the impulse of the 
hour, we hied ourselves to Westminster Abbey, 
to the Sabbath services in that historic pile 
about which cluster the memories of centuries 
of English history. 



An Unofficial Attache 



The charm of London is perennial, and the 
writer fain would dwell at length upon the 
sights which here beguile the traveller ; but 
again the scope of my narrative forbids. West- 
minster and the Thames, Piccadilly and Pall 
Mall, the Tower and London Bridge, and all 
the haunts of those who from the beginning of 
England's history have added to her greatness, 
— all these I must pass unchronicled or depart 
from the path I have set before me. Narration 
rather than description is the mission of these 
pages. 

On Sunday evening General Miles was the 
guest of King Edward at Windsor, whither he 
departed in the middle of the afternoon. All 
guests of the king who dine at Windsor Castle 
are supposed to remain over night and to share 
the hospitality of the ancient seat of royalty 
for a part of the following day. 

What occurred at Windsor that night the 
writer cannot report from personal observation, 
the general being unattended on that occasion. 
Moreover, General Miles is not always com- 
municative on subjects which involve a great 
deal of personal reminiscence. He told me, 
however, of a family dinner-party with the 
king and queen and the Prince and Princess of 

263 



An Unofficial Attache 



Wales, there being but few guests other than 
himself. A hand at bridge after dinner, and 
such conversation as might take place at any 
cosy family party rounded out the evening. 
Kings, after all, are but men, and when they 
are not sitting in that " fierce light which 
beats upon the throne," they are not essentially 
different from other men. 

One anecdote of that night at Windsor 
General Miles did not relate to me, and, but 
for the courtesy of one other guest on that 
occasion, it would never have been chronicled. 

The formal evening costume prescribed by 
his majesty, and that which he himself wears, 
consists of the conventional swallow-tail coat 
with low-cut vest, knee-breeches, and silk hose. 
In anticipation of the visit at Windsor, General 
Miles had procured the requisite garments from 
a Paris tailor, though he refused to give us a 
private exhibition or dress rehearsal. His pro- 
portions were evidently adapted to this formal 
dress in a degree superior to that of most men, 
for it is authentically reported that Edward 
himself, the great arbiter of fashion, remarked 
to the Prince of Wales, in the hearing of our 
informant, that the American general has 
hwposing calves. 

264 



An Unofficial Attache 



Lord Roberts^ familiarly dubbed '^ Bobs/' and 
various other men of note made our visit 
at London the occasion for marked civilities 
to General Miles. But the most picturesque 
dinner-party tendered the general during his 
stay, and one at which all the members of our 
party were present, was that of the Honorable 
William F. Cody, an American of international 
fame, commonly known as '^ Buffalo Bill." 
Colonel Cody's company was performing at the 
Olympia, and his dinner-party was held at his 
hotel at an hour early enough to allow ample 
time for adjournment to the "Wild West." 
A delightful occasion it was. The banquet was 
served in the most exquisite style, and the droll 
humor and genial hospitality of the veteran scout 
and showman added a sauce piquante to every 
course. Colonel Cody, in evening dress, left 
the table only a few minutes earlier than his 
guests, for whom the royal box was reserved 
at the Olympia. A lightning-change artist is 
Buffalo Bill, for scarce had we taken our places 
in the box, when, mid the blare of brass, the 
picturesque old showman, in cow-boy attire, 
his long gray curls fluttering out from below 
his sombrero, came dashing across the arena 
on his fleet and graceful steed. An instant 



An Unofficial Attache 



later the beautiful horse stopped short and 
stood like a statue before us. The grizzled 
Buffalo Bill, with majestic sweep of his thin 
right arm, removed his broad-brimmed hat and 
in stentorian tones announced the opening of 
the ^^ Greatest Show on Earth " — " Bufelo 
BilFs Wild West and the Rough Riders of the 
World/' — precisely as he had done thousands 
of times before, and as millions of people had 
seen him. 'T is thus he plays his double part : 
Colonel Cody — Buffalo Bill. During the per- 
formance our party was augmented by one 
whose fame is equalled only by her beauty and 
whose beauty only by her charming gracious- 
ness of manner — Mary Anderson Navarro. 

On another occasion we lunched at Johnson's 
old tavern, " The Cheshire Cheese," off Fleet 
Street, which to the present time presents very 
much the same appearance as when that famous 
coterie of English men of letters made it their 
rendezvous. 

But of all the wonders of London none can 
compare with the marvellous spectacle of the 
city's streets. The resistless energy of the 
Anglo-Saxon race is typified in the surging mul- 
titude which throngs the pavements of Lon- 
don. The versatility of the nation, the aggres- 



An Unofficial Attache 



sive force, the boundless determination, the 
resourcefulness of the British empire, — all seem 
to be concentrated in the activity which makes 
up the life of London's thoroughfares. 

All sorts and conditions of men and manners, 
busy merchants, sedate financiers, the host of 
laborers, scurrying messengers and clerks, car- 
riages and wagons, trains, hansoms, drays, and 
carts, here they move along in devious and mazy 
course, — the most cosmopolitan aggregation in 
the world. 

Prosperity in all things material is evident in 
England, and especially in London, where the 
display of wealth and of the solid stability of 
industrial activity is impressive to a degree 
found in no other city. Yet side by side with 
sturdy progress stalks lean poverty. Even as 
the wealth of the British empire is concentrated 
in London, so the want and destitution, the 
hunger and desolation of the submerged tenth 
is herded and congested in the streets and alleys 
of the metropolis. A dozen times, in walking 
about the city, I encountered processions of the 
unemployed, — ragged squads of from thirty to 
one hundred and fifty men, slowly filing along 
the streets in orderly lines, huge transparencies 
proclaiming them unemployed and destitute. 

267 



An Unofficial Attache 



Those marching nearest the curb carried tin 
cups which were held out for alms from the 
hands of their more fortunate fellows on the 
sidewalks. Several policemen usually accom- 
panied every such parade, acting as escort rather 
than as censors, and this official regulation of 
parading want went far toward adding to its 
ugliness. It was a tacit acknowledgment on the 
part of the government and society that, with 
all her wealth and majesty, with all her national 
and intellectual greatness, England has not 
solved the problem of the distribution of the 
world's goods, — the feeding and sheltering of 
her poor. 

On Saturday, February the 7th, our party 
boarded the steamship '^ Lucania," at Liverpool, 
for New York. On Sunday, out of sight of land, 
General Miles sent a message of greeting, by 
the Marconi system, to King Edward at Wind- 
sor, and within a short time the instruments 
aboard recorded the answering civility of his 
majesty. For another week we tossed on the 
stormy bosom of the February Atlantic, a 
rough passage, and pleasant only because we 
knew that at its end we should be again on 
native soil. 

On the fifteenth we steamed into the " Nar- 
268 



An Unofficial Attache 



rows/' up the most imposing harbor in the 
world, between Fort Wadsworth and Fort 
Hamilton. The ships of many nations crowded 
the anchorage on either side the vessel's course. 
A moment later we sighted the great statue of 
Liberty on her island pedestal. Then the beauti- 
ful sky-line of New York city, shining in the light 
of a winter morning, broke clear and beauti- 
ful upon our gaze. Slowly our vessel glided 
past the ancient " battery " of antique pictur- 
esqueness, Castle Garden and Bowling Green, 
thence up the wide channel of the North 
Eiver, dotted with unnumbered craft and alive 
with the industry of two continents. 

Presently a little tug, a pygmy boat com- 
pared with our monster ship, puts her flat nose 
against our side, grunts and puffs and pushes, 
now here, now there, now two or three places at 
once. There is a shouting of signals and com- 
mands, a commotion among all hands, crew and 
passengers crowd about the railing, and in a trice 
the " Lucania" is safe and fast within her slip. 

Before the ship had come to a stop, the 
writer, anxiously scanning the crowd of people 
looking upward from the dock, discovered four 
familiar faces, and the wandering "unofficial 
attache " was at home again. 

269 



An Unofficial Attache 



That night we were all guests of Mr. Rouse at 
dinner at Sherry's. I dare say we all talked 
at once, and everybody laughed a great deal and 
was very happy. And so our journey came to 
an end, where it had begun, in the best country 
under the sun, and the freest, cleanest, happiest, 
healthiest land on the circle of the globe. 



THE END 



270 



UN 



